Interview with Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance
Ai-Jen Poo has been organizing with domestic workers for over 15 years, helping in New York to win some of the first statewide labor protections for occupations often exempt from labor laws, and expanding this campaign to a nationwide vision for a strong caregiving workforce and infrastructure for elder care. In 2014 she became a MacArthur Fellow, but this was hardly her first award.
Winning a Land Bank We Can Trust
Lessons from Philadelphia's Campaign to Take Back Vacant Land
Affordable, But for Whom?
How a box of felt pieces helps organizers help New York communities advocate for their real affordable housing needs
Cross-Community Collaboration on NYC’s Municipal ID Program
Lack of identification hurts many different groups in different ways—from the homeless to immigrants, and they all need to be considered in the fight for an alternative.
Social Innovation and Civic Participation
We have some insight from Sonal Shah, the head of the new White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, who is advocating...
Review of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime & Resistance in the Heart Of San Francisco
I learned about the history of the Tenderloin, San Francisco’s maligned neighborhood, through walks in it with my Great Uncle, Milton Hendrick, and listening...
Don’t Call It a Comeback for Neighborhood Schools
In the face of widespread school choice, some D.C. residents are advocating for an equitable system of neighborhood schools. But what's the chance that will become a reality?
Flowers Follow
Sometimes all a vacant lot needs to become a community hub is for someone to know who owns it and who can turn over the keys.
A Battle for Wards in New Jersey’s Hub City
How an organization of residents crossing age, race, and socioeconomic lines took on an unyielding City Hall known for quelling grass-roots efforts and (almost) overtook the political party machinery.
Greetings From Out West
It might have been that brick to the head as a child (long story), but it was October 6 before I realized the second...
Helping Johnny (and Joanie) Walk to School
“Aside from reduced CO2, less traffic time and health advantages, the most important benefit of walk to school programs is teaching children self-reliance.”
The quote...
Will the Occupy Wall Street Crackdowns Energize or Deflate the Movement?
Last week we asked you how the widespread crackdowns on the Occupy Wall Street protests would affect the movement. More...
NJ’s Hurricane Sandy Recovery Plan Needs ‘Significant Improvement’
The aftermath of October's Hurricane Sandy brought attention from the nation to New York and New Jersey where the superstorm caused devastation to homes...
U.S. Catholic Funders: Resist Calls to Abandon Social Justice
In the last few years community organizers have learned it's in their self-interest to become astute Vatican watchers. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)...
The Crapo-Johnson Housing Finance Bill Is a Disaster
Less than a decade after we saw a meltdown in the mortgage market that almost sank our financial system,...
Social Enterprise Movement Faces Growth and New Challenges
In September, I attended the Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) annual conference in Denver, Colorado. At the closing session, Tamra Ryan voiced a key conference...
Imagine if Banks Had a Rating Showing Compliance with Consumer Law?
When consumers shop for new cars or other major products, they often like to consult with Consumer Reports or...
Working in Partnership
[Editorial note: In commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Rooflines has chosen to share an essay from the Shelterforce archives. Co-written by Julian Bond, Jesse Jackson, Jr. and John Taylor in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the decade-old essay shows us that the reality for millions of Americans in poverty has not changed very […]
Practical Ideas for Addressing Micro-Segregation in Mixed Income Communities
Practical lessons from long time community builders on promoting integration and interaction among residents of mixed income communities.
‘Opportunity Areas’ Shouldn’t Just Be Places With A Lot of White People
Why do we think moving to white neighborhoods will solve our problems?