PACT’s Shayla Favor is transforming the Near East Side, Columbus
The calls come on a regular basis. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t receive a phone call from someone who wants to buy my house,” says Shayla Favor, a member of Columbus City Council and the new executive director of Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT).
Favor lives on the Near East Side in a 100-year-old home. Her neighbors, including many elderly folks struggling to maintain their old homes, receive similar phone calls. “Those calls are dangerous and scary,” Favor says of the speculators hoping to buy homes at a reduced rate, slap on some quick fixes and then sell them for a hefty profit as part of the gentrification of the Near East Side. “Someone could swift talk you, and you can find yourself in a bad predicament.”
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Favor was named executive director of PACT in November. In her new role, Favor will lead PACT’s mission to revitalize the Near East Side, the city’s historic, once-thriving African American neighborhood. The area is starting to see signs of progress, which means even more phone calls.
“If we want to see revitalization on the Near East Side, we need to protect it from gentrification, from racism, and fight to ensure equity, housing, education, health care and economic opportunity,” Favor says.
How Favor got the job at PACT
After Capital University Law School and a brief stint in corporate law, Favor found her calling in public service law, working for the Columbus City Attorney’s Office. She was in the environmental division. “I was assigned to the Near East Side, and our job was to abate public nuisances, the dilapidated properties that were used for illegal activities,” she says.
Councilwoman Jaiza Page was elected judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in 2018, opening a seat on city council. Favor added her name to the long list of applicants and was appointed in January 2019.
One of Favor’s mentors is Donna James, a former Nationwide executive and current managing director of Lardon & Associates. “What really impressed me was how interested she was in personal growth and how to be a more effective leader,” James says. “She has a real passion to help people.”
Partners Achieving Community Transformation’s history
The Near East side is about 1 square mile in size, and the population is predominately African American. Landmarks include the Lincoln and Pythian theaters, historic Poindexter Village and the King Arts Complex.
PACT is a partnership between the city, Ohio State, Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority and area residents. The nonprofit organization was initially funded with $10 million from Ohio State in 2010. “We established PACT to guide that initial investment and leverage additional investments,” says Elizabeth Seely, chief administrative officer, hospital division at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
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A master plan was developed, and one of the first successes was winning a $300,000 Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods Planning grant in January 2012. Favor took over as executive director from Autumn Glover, who moved on to OhioHealth as a senior director. “She was so articulate in expressing her vision of what PACT could do,” Seely says of Favor. “Of taking something great and continuing on that trajectory.”
PACT in action
Fifth Third Bank announced plans in late 2021 to invest $20 million in the Near East Side in partnership with PACT, in collaboration with Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit. The goals of the investment include developing a Black-owned bank and grocery store; creation of public art; down-payment support for “middle income and ladder-up” families; and the expansion of health, dental and optometry services.
“This work is personal for me,” Favor says. “I’ll use my education and legal background to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.”
Steve Wartenberg is a freelance writer.
Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT)
211 Taylor Ave., Columbus 43203
eastpact.orgMission: To help create a healthy, financially and environmentally sustainable community on the Near East Side.
Executive director: Shayla Favor
Employees: Two
Funding: $1.2 million annually, primarily from Ohio State University
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