Sarah Walton LaFave has been hired as the executive director of Blueprint 15. Credit: Courtesy of the City of Syracuse

Sarah Walton LaFave will permanently helm Blueprint 15, the local nonprofit working with public housing residents during the redevelopment of public housing in Syracuse’s Southside. 

Walton LaFave, who served as the city’s director of the East Adams neighborhood development before, was selected as the interim executive director in September. She succeeded Raquan Pride-Green, who resigned from Blueprint 15 in August amid uncertainty around the nonprofit’s push for the Children Rising Center. She will in January 2026 formally begin her tenure as executive director of the nonprofit. 

The redevelopment of public housing, previously valued at $1 billion, will take place across several phases. The housing authority and McCormack Baron Salazar, the Missouri-based developer in charge of redeveloping public housing in Syracuse, will redevelop 672 apartments  in Pioneer Homes and McKinney Manor while building an additional 732 apartment units. SHA hopes to house current residents while drawing in new residents who pay market-rate rents. 

SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar on Dec. 3 broke ground on the first phase of redevelopment in the neighborhood. The housing authority is set to on Dec. 18 close on financing for the second phase of the project.  

Previously, SHA sparred with Blueprint 15 and the city over the pause of the Children Rising Center project. While city officials, the nonprofit and the Allyn Family Foundation blamed the housing authority for failing to finish its plan to redevelop public housing in time to apply for $7 million in tax credits, SHA denied missing any deadlines. 

The Children Rising Center was developed to address needs in the community, especially child care options and the opportunity to prepare young kids for school by focusing on early learning. In their Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant application reviewed by Central Current, the SHA cited the school district’s 2023-24 proxy academic data to emphasize the importance of the project. 

The CRC will offer early learning slots to bring children up to speed, alongside afterschool and summer programs, and a play arena for children and parents with early learning opportunities. 

“A huge goal of mine is going to be, how do we kind of continue thinking about how that project needs to come together in terms of its timing and its funding and its partners. Really excited to hopefully get some momentum back into that effort,” Walton LaFave said during a sit-down interview with Central Current in September following her appointment as the interim leader. 

A graduate of Policy Studies and Geography from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Walton LaFave spent a decade working in nonprofits and community-based organizations. 

At SU, she worked in the Southside and was involved in the Wilson Park Community Center. She has also served as the associate executive director at the Syracuse Northeast Community Center, where she oversaw several programs aimed at addressing the needs and interests of residents in the North Side and Northeast neighborhood. 

“I want to keep those voices active,” Walton LaFave had said. “That’s a real function that Blueprint plays, and I think it’s essential to us not repeating a lot of the things that happened in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s.”

Outgoing Mayor Ben Walsh appointed Walton LaFave to lead the East Adams neighborhood redevelopment in 2023, as part of the city’s Department of Neighborhood and Business Development. She coordinated between city staff and others involved in the project. 

During her time at the city, Walton LaFave grew increasingly familiar with the staff and mission at Blueprint 15, and wanted to continue to assist the team with securing additional funding to continue their work through the fall. 

“I’m excited to be in the seat where it really is all about the residents,” Walton LaFave said. “I’m going to be really trying to stay focused on supporting the team here, supporting the organization, and most importantly, I think creating that line of communication with residents when they need it.”

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Debadrita Sur is a multimedia journalist and Report for America corps member who reports on the I-81 project and public housing for Central Current. In 2023, Sur graduated with a master’s degree in journalism...