Topic
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.”
The Latest
Federal Grant Rule Change Threatens Community Access to Public Funds
A proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget would facilitate political interference in federal grant disbursements across all agencies. The deadline for public comment is July 13.
Explore Articles in this Topic
Search & Filter Within this Topic
filter by Content Type
filter by Date Range
search by Keyword
5 (More) Things Dividing the Government and CDCs
I was recently in a room with representatives from government, banks, private developers, and CDCs for a conversation about community development needs. Those in the room expressed frustration with government […]
Scoring Bragging Rights–and Funding
If there is one thing we have no shortage of here at LISC, it’s modesty. When a distressed community rebounds, we happily hand the credit to the residents and local […]
Is Community Development Failing or Succeeding?
Massive change tends to lead to massive introspection. And changed circumstances tend to lead to a need for changed tools. The housing and foreclosure crisis, the ensuing financial crisis, and […]
Demand Congress Act to Advance Home Opportunity
We're in tough times, but there’s some good news on the housing front. In slow but meaningful steps around the country, decisionmakers are adopting key elements of the Compact for […]
What Is Community Development?
Over the following pages, our authors explore many aspects of the community development field, and especially the role of community development corporations in it. But we know you have opinions too. To set the stage, last year we invited our readers to take a survey about how they understood the community development field and community development corporations. The survey was promoted through our weekly newsletter and social media. We got about a hundred responses.
The Past, Present, and Future of Community Development
The changing face of achieving equity in health, education, and housing in the United States.
Community Development Corporations at a Crossroads
For nearly half a century, community development corporations (CDCs) have been a tool of choice for organizing and implementing grassroots economic development programs. Emerging in the aftermath of the civil […]
Scale, Schmale. What About Impact?
If you think what’s wrong with CDCs today is their failure to “go to scale,” you are looking in the fundamentally wrong direction, asking the wrong questions. While I do […]
What Mumbai’s Slums Do Right, And Why We Should Emulate Them
Sometimes to understand our own cities and community development practices it is helpful to understand a radically different setting. In the slums of Mumbai one thing is immediately evident: the […]
Neighborhoods or Regions? A Trick Question
There is a narrative out there about how much of community development has lost its soul — community development has become too much about Development and not enough about Community, […]
Juntos Somos Más: Collectively Building Local Assets
National organizations adapting to meet the needs of growing minority populations should throw their funding behind well-established grassroots