Community Development Field

Shelterforce considers “community development” to be an extremely broad term. But there are still many conversations about the ways in which that broad work happens. Comprehensively or in coalitions of specialized organizations? Locally or regionally? Place or people? While the answers to all of these are usually “both,” there are many conversations to be had about “how.”

Housing Organizations Pivot to Provide COVID Testing and Vaccinations

Some CDCs hope that building trust can save lives now while building a stronger foundation for long-term health. “COVID is a catalyst forcing us to think outside the box, to pivot, to explore our partnerships in different ways.”

Getting Competitive Health Care Systems to Work Together For the Community

Although they were serving the same communities, Philadelphia’s nonprofit hospitals weren’t coordinating with each other. A yearslong process aimed to change that. How did the hospitals eventually come together and what lessons can be drawn to inform hospital collaborations elsewhere?

Understanding Community Land Trusts

What are CLTs? How do they work? What are the benefits and areas of concern? An overview.

How LISC, Enterprise Hope to Bring More Capital to Developers of Color

Two large community development intermediaries have announced major racial equity initiatives that emphasize how affordable housing gets built—and who builds it.

‘Gentrification’ Is Not the Real Problem

The conversation about gentrification continually repackages a set of debunked theories as reality and it obscures a set of real crises that need fixing.

Community-Police Partnerships After George Floyd

An interview with Mona Mangat, vice president of safety and justice initiatives at LISC. We talked with Mona Mangat, vice president of safety and justice initiatives at LISC,

The Assumptions Behind Place-Based Programs Can Hinder Their Success

Examining eight common assumptions underlying place-based work shows that even when avoiding the pitfalls of no change or gentrification, the work is challenging.

More Than a Mural: How Arts and Culture Advance the Mission of the Seattle...

Arts programs at one public housing development in Seattle have eased the challenges of redevelopment by helping residents define what the community means to them.

Insights for Health and Community Development Partnerships from People Who Have Crossed Sectors

Increasingly, health practitioners are being hired by community development organizations, and vice versa. What can they tell us about how differently the sectors operate and perceive issues, and where there’s potential for partnership?

Did the Comprehensive Community Initiatives of the 1990s, early 2000s Bring About Change?

Once a must-have for foundations, Comprehensive Community Initiatives found mixed success.

Lessons to Guide Future Equitable Development Planning

How did recent equitable development projects in Baton Rouge, Dallas, and South Florida fare?

Paying Community Members for Their Time

Community development organizations are recognizing that community expertise is valuable and that residents should be compensated for it.

Community Engagement Can’t Be a Checklist

Are we engaging communities meaningfully, or are we just checking off boxes?

During the Pandemic, Community Development Organizations Prioritize Relief and Assistance Work

While rent relief might not be their mission, organizations are focusing on the immediate needs of residents. But with all of their staff and monetary resources being used to plug holes, some organizations believe they’re a few months or another crisis away from financial disaster.

Can We Curb Crime by Cleaning the Corner?

As communities discuss reeling in their police departments, Flint, Michigan and Binghamton, New York have turned to another tool to reduce crime.

Is the Pandemic Improving Affordable Housing Asset Management?

Resident services has long been the first to be cut in hard times—but for some housing providers that may be changing.
A map displaying the boundary of a neighborhood, with several green markers within the boundary and many other green markers outside of it.

Let’s Re-Place the Health Opportunity Maps

The way we map health opportunity has serious flaws. How can we make those maps more reflective of communities' lived experiences?

Advancing Antiracism in Community Development

How can the community development field stay aligned with the movements that led to its rise in the first place?
evictions: image of house keys and a tag that says "evicted"

Top 10 Shelterforce Articles of 2020

Eviction, tiny houses, hotel rooms for the homeless, and COVID-19—Shelterforce's 10 most-read articles of 2020.

The Foreclosure Crisis Waiting for Us in January

Although homeowners have so far accessed financial relief from the pandemic much more easily than renters, housing counselors are bracing for a foreclosure crisis as forbearance terms start to end.