Archives

A Housing Trust Fund Would Boost the Economy

Job seekers, home buyers, low- and moderate-income families, and the economy as a whole will benefit from creation of a National Housing Trust Fund,...

The Evaluation Imperative

In the aftermath of September 11th, many of us felt the initial shock and sadness turn to a deeper quest to connect with those...

A Look In The Mirror

My first experience with organizational evaluation came early. I was a secretary at my local neighborhood center – known by its constituents as “the...

What Makes an Evaluation Successful?

That’s one of the questions that the McAuley Institute and the Development Leadership Network asked staff of community development organizations this year in a...

Beyond the Number of Jobs

Native tribes and people, historically the poorest of the poor in this country, “own” substantial assets but often do not control them. Many lands...

Getting At Impact: A Beginners Guide to Program Evaluation

In 1999 the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA) owned and operated 492 units of democratically controlled affordable housing. It had demographic data on its...

Some Tips on Collecting Data

Once you have identified indicators, you need to collect data on them on a regular basis so you can see how they are changing....

Color-coding Change

In order to measure success, you need to know where you started. That may seem like a simple statement, but getting a complete picture...

Roundtable on Evaluation in Community Groups

Shelterforce recently brought together a small group of practitioners, evaluators, and funders to discuss their experiences with evaluation, the strengths and weaknesses of current...

Evaluation Resources

The Success Measures Project, an initiative of the Development Leadership Network, has developed a set of indicators for evaluating housing, economic development, and community...

Shifting The Balance of Power

A substantial amount of Community Development Block Grant money – at least for housing rehabilitation – was reaching the poor in Birmingham, Alabama. At...

Vertical Integration

When Vickie Stapleton’s landlord announced his intention to terminate his project-based Section 8 contract with HUD last year, she got nervous. “A lot of...

Making Use of December

There is a popular myth in fundraising circles that December is the best month to raise money. Like most myths, this one has some...

Building Communities, Building Careers

A Guide to Careers in Community Development, by Paul C. Brophy and Alice Shabecoff. Island Press, 2001. 309 pp. $17.05. I come to this book...

The New World

The world did seem to change on September 11. America’s prosperity, its geographic isolation, and its persistent optimism led us to believe we were...