The Ivanhoe neighborhood is a city within a city. Straddling Bruce R. Watkins Drive from 31st Street to Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, its territory includes approximately 3,300 homes. The area faced a litany of urban woes — crime, empty lots, resident flight — when Margaret May, a retired federal worker, became the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council's executive director in 2001. Under May's guidance, the organization has made the pursuit of a clean and safe place to live more than a mission statement. The council began acquiring abandoned houses and preparing them for resale. An old firehouse was converted into a neighborhood center. Drug houses closed. Last year, the council created a development corporation so it could apply for tax credits to renovate the old Horace Mann school. To make things happen, May has used tools ranging from tax-increment financing to lawyers working pro bono. Bryan Cave attorney Jeremiah Morgan has assisted the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council on property matters. "The people and their ambitions have been really fantastic," Morgan says.
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