In the 1960s, many of America’s oldest
inner city neighborhoods were being bulldozed and residents were moved to
public housing projects under the
urban renewal movement. The financial industry declared inner city neighborhoods as places that were deemed risky and unfit for good business investments. Richardson, a housewife, refused to see her neighborhood continue to decay. "I could see houses starting to lean, windows rotting away. The solution was not to tear down the whole neighborhood and move everybody into public housing. The solution was to fix the houses." Richardson and the block club knew money was the key to success. They enlisted city bankers and government officials to join in support of improving the neighborhood. The group then persuaded 16 financial institutions to support their neighborhood improvement efforts by making loans, capitalizing a
revolving loan fund, and rehabilitate rundown homes. Richardson’s group raised $750,000 in grants from the area lending institutions, and the funds were used to create the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Pittsburgh in 1968. During the 1970s and 1980s, Richardson remained a prominent figure in her neighborhood and elsewhere by educating and inspiring community leaders. She assisted them with establishing their own resident-led organizations. ==Legacy==