Proposed CRA Changes Would be Disastrous

In This Issue: Protecting the Community Reinvestment Act Is an Investment in Economic Justice ● The Ticket to Opportunity ● Battling Inequity in Food Systems with Entrepreneurship ● Also: Jobs ● In Case You Missed It +

Week of January 6 In This Issue: Protecting the Community Reinvestment Act Is an Investment in Economic Justice ● The Ticket to Opportunity ● Battling Inequity in Food Systems with Entrepreneurship ● States' Big Role in the Fight Against Vacancy ● Also: Jobs ● In Case You Missed It + Battling Inequity in Food Systems with Entrepreneurship Olivia Rebanal, Capital Impact Partners Historically, communities of color have been barred from full participation in the nation’s food economy, but today, a number of initiatives are working to bring about greater economic opportunity in the industry. Here are some of their strategies. Read Full Article Protecting the Community Reinvestment Act Is an Investment in Economic Justice Jaime Weisberg, Association of Neighborhood & Housing Development  Though the Community Reinvestment Act is lesser-known to the general public than other civil rights laws the current administration has been attacking, currently proposed changes to the CRA would prove disastrous for marginalized communities, because . . . Read Full Article The Ticket to Opportunity  Interview by Miriam Axel-Lute, Shelterforce An Indianapolis-based organization successfully campaigned to bring more funding to the county’s mass transit system. How did the organization balance the tension between expanding rail line service and improving bus service, and ensure race was at the forefront of the conversation? Read Full Article From the Shelterforce archive: States’ Big Role in the Fight Against Vacancy Miriam Axel-Lute, Shelterforce Vacant and abandoned properties seem like a quintessentially local problem. And yet, much of the key policy action in the fight against vacancy is actually at the state level. Read Full Article Please Tell Us! Inform Shelterforce Coverage on CRA Reform Is your community development work significantly funded, or your projects significantly financed, by CRA-regulated entities? Would you talk to Shelterforce about specifically how much, and what potential changes to the CRA regs could mean for your organization? Send us your responses here, by January 15th, 2020. Events Thursday, Jan. 23, 2 p.m. ET | Partnering with health care to deliver social determinants of health | Join Bank of America for this webinar that will discuss the social determinants of health, what that means, and how it is relevant for nonprofits. Register here. We only list free events and resources of national interest. To learn about advertising, click here. You Said It On “Rents Will Only Go So Low, No Matter How Much We Build” Johnny King: This is true. Just like any business there is a point at which the price and in turn profit gets so low it’s not even worth . . . Via Twitter Michael Lewyn: This article explains why even though I am much more pro-market and pro-YIMBY than most readers and commenters here, I still favor public housing. Read More Brandon Kovnat: It is not merely a housing problem it is an income problem. For low-income areas and low-income households, the greatest improvement in housing will come from . . . Read More Philip Garboden: Once more for the people in the back: the housing crisis is not a unitary phenomenon with a unitary solution. We’re (collectively) smart enough to work on multiple fronts. Via Twitter On “‘Workforce Housing’ Is an Insulting Term” Mission Driven Finance: PSA: Let's not call middle-income housing “workforce housing.” There's a whole lot of workforce making less than 60% AMI and there’s more to life than being part of the workforce. Oldie but goodie from @miriam_mjoy @Shelterforce. Via Twitter On “The Overselling of Rapid Re-housing” Claas Ehlers: This article is a couple years old but still relevant. It's not saying RRH or HF are not good solutions, but that the challenges are complex & the solutions must be highly nuanced and locally driven. Via Twitter On “The Problem with On-Demand ‘Transit’” Steve Lockwood: What about a mixed system — that would get riders to nearby bus transfer stations using microtransit? In a sprawled, nondense, very low income neighborhood like ours, we don’t see another alternative. Read More On “It Doesn’t Matter if Your Neighborhood Is Going to Eventually Gentrify” Colleen Casey: Thanks @shelterforce for a very pragmatic read on the complexities of gentrification and importance of understanding the root causes before policy action. Via Twitter Sign up for Shelterforce Weekly! In Case You Missed It The Problem with On-Demand “Transit” Rents Will Only Go So Low, No Matter How Much We Build Shelterforce’s Top 10 Articles of 2019 A Tale of Two Murals in Albany How a Risk-Averse Hospital and a Risk-Taking CDC Built a Functional Partnership Looking for a Job? Scroll Down... Jobs Communications Specialist, Grounded Solutions Network, Flexible Location ● Grounded Solutions Network seeks a Communications Specialist to implement a variety of communications activities for our organization, including the development of social media and newsletter content, outreach, events, and public engagement. The ideal candidate will . . . Read Full Listing Customer Success Specialist, Grounded Solutions Network, Remote ● The ideal candidate will possess excellent writing, organizational and problem-solving skills and experience or interest in implementing a broad array of communications activities including the development of social media and newsletter content, public affairs, outreach, events, and . . . Read Full Listing Housing Production Analyst (Analyst III), City of Portland, Portland, OR ● The City of Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) is seeking a Housing Production Analyst who will report to the Deputy Director. The Housing Production Analyst is part of PHB’s Housing Production Team whose goal is to increase the number of rental and homeownership units . . . Read Full Listing Project Developer I or II, Mercy Housing Southeast, Atlanta, GA ● Mercy Housing seeks a Project Developer I or II to perform tasks associated with the finance, development, and acquisition of affordable, multi-family housing. The Project Developer will Review sites or projects for potential development of new construction, complexes for potential . . . Read Full Listing Click here to post a job! More Jobs Policy and Planning Manager, San Francisco, CA ● Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation  Planner or Assistant Planner, San Rafael, CA ● Marin County Editor, Miriam Axel-Lute Managing Editor, Lillian M. Ortiz Senior Editor, Keli A. Tianga Assistant Editor, Elizabeth Oguss Operations Assistant, Sam Fields Publisher, Harold Simon Made possible by the generous support of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ● Kresge Foundation ● NeighborWorks America ● Kaiser Permanente ● Bank of America Foundation ● JPMorgan Chase Foundation ● Citi Community Development ● PNC Bank Foundation● BB&T ● Valley National Bank ...and with the support of readers like you.