Jul/Aug 1999
Issue #106
Outlawing Homelessness
Whether fighting slumlords or budget cuts, organizing is the key to success. But organizing has always been hard to fund. Few foundations openly embrace those who challenge the system. Collaborations and partnerships are easier sells. But some progressive foundations have a mission to fund the fight against oppression, poverty, and inequality by directly challenging power. And they fund organizing. Miriam Axel-Lute profiles two such foundations. Kristen Brown of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty looks at anti-homeless legislation and successful alternatives to help people come off the streets. Also, and article on how two groups organized to fight anti-homelessness legislation in Philadelphia. The notion that accumulating assets or building wealth is an effective way to fight poverty is beginning to take hold. Based on the research of people like Michael Sherraden, Melvin Oliver, and Thomas Shapiro, and programs developed by groups like the Center for Enterprise Development, many foundations and policy makers are examining ways to increase the assets of the poor.
Rewarding Savings
Selina and Duane Darden of Washington, DC, thought they were doing the best they could on their combined earnings, which were below 150 percent of the federal poverty line. They […]
Eyesore to Community Asset
On a hill just west of downtown Los Angeles sits the Mary Andrews Clark Memorial Home, a 1912 “Chateauesque” building that The Los Angeles Times has called “architecturally one of […]
Grantmaking Power to the People
Foundations that fund grassroots organizing are a rare breed, perhaps because organizing challenges a power structure that includes foundations themselves. A new foundation in the Southeast is taking aim at […]
Act Fast
As we go to press, Congress is in recess. Throughout the country, Representatives and Senators extol the booming economy that has resulted in a budget “surplus.” To spend that money, […]
Shelter Shorts
NC Leads Predatory Lending Fight In late July, North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt signed what State Attorney General Mike Easley says is the toughest predatory lending law in the nation. […]
CDCs Access New Economic Development Resources
Historically, community development organizations have pursued traditional federal funding for their economic development projects. Grants and loans are annually requested from: HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Program (although its economic […]
Philadelphia Campaign Reshapes Homelessness Debate
For the past few years, homeless advocates in Philadelphia have made some remarkable strides in pushing for solutions to homelessness. Several distinct but overlapping campaigns have worked to bring homelessness […]
The Endless Discussion: Reauthorizing Homeless Assistance
Since 1995, when then Assistant Secretary of HUD Andrew Cuomo came to Washington with an idea called the “Continuum of Care,” a seemingly endless procession of homeless assistance reauthorization bills […]
Housing Legislative News
House Committee Slashes HUD Funding “Death by a thousand cuts” is how some have described the House VA-HUD-IA Appropriations Subcommittee’s mark-up on July 26. The proposed bill cuts nearly every […]
How Well Did Yonkers Fair Housing Measures Work?
Across the United States since the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, only a handful of lawsuits have challenged systematic racial discrimination in housing. Examples include the Gautreaux […]
Fighting Poverty as a Nation
The dramatic changes in federal and state antipoverty programs are leading to renewed interest in policies and strategies for reducing poverty. Borrowing from the theme of Hillary Clinton’s It Takes […]