Archives
Fighting for the Trust Fund
When we reported earlier this year on the often-frustrating saga of finding a legislative home for the as yet unfunded National Housing Trust Fund...
Housing Counseling in Crisis
In April, when the so-called budget compromise for continued FY2011 funding was reached, the entire $88 million HUD Housing Counseling budget was left in...
What’s in Store for PETRA?
At the time it was unveiled last year, the Obama administration’s Preservation, Enhancement and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act, or PETRA (see SF, Summer...
What’s in Store for PETRA?
At the time it was unveiled last year, the Obama administration’s Preservation, Enhancement and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act, or PETRA (see SF, Summer...
Doing More with Less
Our job is not to deliver services, but to empower clients to make as many decisions about their life as they can.
Know Your Rights
A community that is not equal under the law is not going to be equal anywhere else.
Building Grassroots Power and Coalitions in the CDC Movement
I am continually inspired by the potential for building grassroots power and coalitions for affordable housing and community development.
Taking a Sustainable Approach
Over the next 36 years, the biggest issue facing community developers will be energy. Many experts say we have already hit peak oil production...
Mission: Accomplished
For the past five years, I have been involved with a project in Eastern Oregon in a town with a population of 3,310. The...
Community Development Is in Everyone’s Interest
One of the main principles of organizing is self-interest. People are motivated to take action by the desire to improve their own lot. Students...
Fighting for Responsible Corporate Partnerships
As with the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977, we need a new mechanism for the next 36 years that forces corporations to anchor themselves in our neighborhoods.
We Still Have the Power
What do activists, policy makers, advocates, scholars, and citizens of other countries do to surmount the challenges that face us here? What knowledge and wisdom can we import? What can we export?
Tapping Into the Power of Technology
One of the greatest changes affecting the community development field has been in technology, and the benefits and challenges it brings. Because my background...
Community Development and Ending Homelessness
The discussion of homelessness is dominated by stories of personal mistakes, bad luck, and mental illness. In contrast to this narrative, we know that...
Winning Back the Government’s Love (and Money)
If people grapple with real budget trade-offs, they might appreciate government spending more, and redirect it to programs that benefit their communities.
Beyond Social Service: Sustainable and Dynamic CDCs are Key to Economic...
As a program director at the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) in Minneapolis, coupled with my prior corporate experience as human development consultant in...
A Ground-Up Approach in a Top-Down World
Community development in the last 20 years has been hindered by the perpetuation of real estate as a vehicle for wealth creation.
Do One Thing and Do It Well
Changes in policy, economics, and needs force the community development field to move forward to meet today’s challenges.
Looking to Alternative Markets for Housing, Jobs, and Assets
As public resources, grants, and publicly owned lands dwindle, community developers have had to seek out new approaches to continue their work.
Priorities: Existing Housing Over New Construction
In the Pacific Northwest, the affordable housing industry is just beginning to understand the unsustainable building practices that were common in the 1990s and early 2000s.