Emancipation Avenue Main Street an initiative of the EEDC

Alicia Neal has 25 years in non-profit management and community revitalization with a special focus on grassroots resident engagement. She is a creative thinker and loves bringing people together to celebrate the greatness of Third Ward.  

The Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) is one of the oldest and largest in the nation, with 90 fully designated communities. The program was brought to Texas by Anice Read, a former member of the Texas Historical Commission, who also served as first director of the state Main Street effort in 1981. The mission of the TMSP is "to provide technical expertise, resources and support for Texas communities in the preservation and revitalization of historic downtowns and commercial neighborhood districts in accord with the National Main Street Four Point Approach® of organization, economic vitality, design and promotion."  

 Main Street America™ has been helping to revitalize older and historic commercial districts since the late 1970s. Today, it is a movement consisting of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofi t National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.