An outline for integrated equity planning: concepts and programs
This comes up not just because of mentions in comment threads, but an email thread on the Pro-Urb e-list, which Interesting, on a theoretical basis I have been thinking about this since 2013, when I spent 3 months on grand jury duty and realized that DC spends about $4 billion/year (criminal justice, police, fire, medical, health care, welfare, schools) on the most impoverished parts of the city, but just to keep them "the same."
I came up with the idea of "a Marshall Plan" for wards 7 and 8 in DC, as well as the Latino-dominated Takoma Langley Crossroads area in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in nearby Maryland, although I haven't fully articulated it.
It's based on the "Signature Streets" concept I have been developing since 2010, originally for transportation, in terms of integrating civic assets and programming into one system. I think it's the root or foundation for integrated equity planning.
Public Realm as an Interconnected system, Slide from presentation, Leadership and the Role of Parks and Recreation in the New Economy, David Barth
I haven't yet aimed to develop this into a massive position paper. And I need someone great at graphic design to help me express it graphically. David Barth gave me permission to use/modify his "integrated public realm framework" and I want to add to it "subway style iconography" for the linkages.
His linkages are just transportation. For me they are also civil society and organizations; media and communications; education; social services; politics and governance; etc.
While Mayor Bowser didn't execute this concept the way I suggested, she did create a new position "Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity," based on my conversations with her campaign people.
The program (Woodlawn, Birmingham, Alabama) mentioned in the Pro-Urb thread is interesting. Here and there are similar efforts, such as Price Philanthropies focus on the City Heights neighborhood in San Diego (responded to by the city's Jacobs Foundation with an effort in another neighborhood). But even though the City Heights effort is cool and smart to focus all its efforts and monies on one neighborhood, when I went to check it out, I did wonder "that's all you get for a couple hundred million dollars?"
I haven't addressed the concept for awhile, but I have strung a bunch of best practices that are models. The thing is that most of these best practices are one offs, and need to be integrated into a more overarching and complete program. Here goes:
Conceptual underpinnings
- integrated public realm framework/Signature Streets as the foundation of integrated equity planning
- social urbanism concept in Medellin, Colombia, creating new civic assets in neighborhoods (Library Parks) and better transit connections in topographically challenged areas (escalators, gondola systems, etc.). They've experienced serious decrease in crime/murder. It's funded in part from monies from the publicly owned utility ("'Social urbanism' experiment breathes new life into Colombia's Medellin" Toronto Globe & Mail; "Medellín's 'social urbanism' a model for city transformation," Mail & Guardian) - citizenship culture concept of Antanas Mockus (Former Mayor of Bogota)
- positive deviance model (see the Harvard Business Review article "Your Company's Secret Change Agents," 2005)
- the five point framework in Community Economic Development Handbook by Mihalio Temali
- Main Street commercial district revitalization model
- Social capital/community capital
- Asset Based Community Development (ABCD Institute, Chicago)
- Transformational Projects Action Planning (blog entry)
- Broken Windows Policing (as opposed to Zero Tolerance Policing), ("The state of "broken windows" versus "problem oriented policing" strategies in 2016: Part 1, theory and practice)
- Building Neighborhood Confidence, by Rolf Goetz
- special service districts as funding mechanisms
Policing
- Community Safety Partnership, Los Angeles
- Operation Ceasefire, Boston ("Straight Outta Boston," Mother Jones Magazine)
- High Point, NC program focusing on domestic violence ("How High Point, N.C., Solved Its Domestic Violence Problem," Governing Magazine)
Neighborhood
- United Way Toronto repositioning, spending all its resources on specific targeted neighborhoods (Building Strong Neighborhoods)
- immigrant integration program in Marseille
- "Elm Street" neighborhood revitalization approach -- adapted from Main Street model by State of Pennsylvania, program has since been deemphasized under later administrations
- settlement house model
- Neighborhood Centers Inc., Harris County, Texas
- neighborhood housing improvement programs including by Mercer University in Macon and the Neighborhood Housing Services program more generally
- Toronto Tower Renewal Program
- East End initiative, Richmond, Virginia
- Grow South initiative, Dallas
- City Heights Initiative, Price Philanthropies, San Diego
Environment
- Toronto's programs dealing with multunit buildings
- San Francisco Green Benefits District
- environmental justice programs generally ("Environmental injustice is rising in the US. Minorities and the poor pay the price," Guardian)
- Push Buffalo Green Development Zone
Health
- proposal for social and community programs integrated into St. Anthony Hospital in Chicago (Focal Point Chicago)
- integrated public health clinics and hospital system in Denver
- community health clinics in DC
Schooling
- schools as combined community centers
- year round school
- enhanced "summer school"
- special assistance programs for Title I schools (Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, etc.)
- cooperative high school (a concept of mine)
- various programs with schools including models dealing with immigrants, the Family Resource Center at Rothenberg School in Cincinnati ("Below the Line in Over the Rhine," WCPO-TV)
- the Tacoma Housing Authority's work with elementary schools
- IB as a way to reposition low performing public schools (Rainer Beach High School, Seattle)
-- "Lessons for locals on the power of parents in schools," Seattle Times
-- "More thoughts about connecting communities to schools," 2006
Libraries/Continuing Education/Community Centers
- libraries as combined community centers (Drumbrae Library in Scotland) including as a premier example
- the IdeaStore concept in Tower Hamlets borough, London (combines library + adult education and locates them in highly visible locations in high use districts)
- multi-community centers (Pound Healthy Living Centre, Hampshire County, UK)
- extended hours for libraries and rec/community centers
- "A local community center is helping people conquer inequality," Los Angeles Times
Business development/jobs
- Main Street commercial district revitalization approach
- Community Economic Development Handbook points on microenterprise development and growing good neighborhood jobs
- Evergreen Cooperatives, Cleveland, business and jobs development
- PUSH Buffalo (New York) green jobs program
- West Philadelphia Skills Initiative of the University City District
- supported job settings for people who can work but need support along the way (I wrote about this as a concept)
- food halls/markets as a typology for developing locally owned businesses (Midtown Exchange, Minneapolis; Mercado, Portland; Thai Town Marketplace, LA)
- and incubators
- UpLift Solutions consulting group, Philadelphia on addressing "food deserts"
- community grocery store (Fare & Square, Chester, PA; Mariposa Food Cooperative, Philadelphia; Richmond East End Initiative)
Housing
- SRO housing (lots and lots of it)
- DIY/self-help/civic engagement programs in public housing to build social and community capital
Transportation
- programs to support take up of biking
- improved transit access ("Largest urban cable car soars over 'desperate' commuters of La Paz," Guardian)
- area improvements to improve access to stations
- discounted transit passes based on income (NYC, San Francisco, Edmonton)
Nonprofits/Arts
- shared spaces for organizations (Nonprofit Centers Inc.)
- shared spaces for arts organizations (many examples)
Etc.
Labels: action planning, equity planning, neighborhood revitalization, provision of public services, sustainable mobility platform, urban design/placemaking, urban revitalization
posted by Richard Layman @ 9:26 AM&Permanent Link
78 Comments:
Ok, I was not really trying to egg you on.
Buried in there is a lot of cultural stuff - the assumption that work is good.
DC does have programs on that — the EITC Is very generous here, the various workforce housing programs.
If anything I’d make the incentives stronger. Again my $1 per day program for school. Force people into savings program. Want a low income loan for housing — save an extra 10%.
You’ve also go the drug money problem.
Off topic, with a 10K limit on taxes, DC may be very interested in a payrol tax now.
Dammit, ate my response.
Anyway, it's "coincidence." Yes, you made your point, about 40 examples and thousands of words, but then it came up in the context of a message on an e-list I'm on, and the example touted, I think a Promise neighborhood initiative (I don't mention them as a model 'cause they never got enough resources to do much, but some likely will succeed because of the partnerships created), so I did the outline. Now that it's an entry, I can keep adding to the outline...
Yes, work is important. In the putative Walter Reed thing (that proposal was more than 35,000 words) the one dude was big into workforce, but I kept arguing with him, making the point that there are plenty of best practice training examples, and examples in the area, the issue is more providing a ladder of placements where the person can develop readiness and familiarity but in structured and supported settings. Plenty of hard to help people get training, but wash out in the workplace because they aren't getting support.
(Also read an example of Brown's Supermarkets/Uplift Solutions in Philadelphia and some of their work. They've had great success with ex-prisoners and other types of otherwise hard to employ people based on structured training, linked to the job, AND an on-staff social worker. They're on my mind because there is a "social enterprise" grocery store opening up in Richmond, and I've been feeding them info. It started as me interviewing them for a story, but I want them to succeed, and they are meeting with Uplift Solutions anyway--it's the social enterprise consulting division of the supermarket company.)
And that rather than "team" with for profit contractors, create the functional businesses and do the work.
The problem is that he is an example of my adage, "your organization/effort is only as strong as your weakest link." He was just too out there, and even I couldn't deal with him after awhile even though he has the best of intentions.
The other problem was that DC had already froze its intentions for Walter Reed, even though our counter proposal was much better in terms of jobs and business development. But that was further exacerbated by the other principal, an MD and adjunct medical professor who wanted to create a graduate health campus and biotech research and business development initiative. He couldn't deal with the other guy either, and I got painted with that. But more importantly he couldn't land an MOU with a credible university institution to move the program forward, to get the city to stop in its tracks (my proposal even outlined an argument justifying the city's previous course and a way out of it).
So we just couldn't move it forward. (I am proud of the proposal though. It wasn't just the schools and research but also maker space and a multifaceted arts center on the European model, like La Friche in Marseille or cabelfactory in Helsinki.)
===
so yes, incentives, drug money problem etc. reading the teacher blog you recommended, one of his was how a dude diddled a bunch of people and skipped school, saying he was in basic training (it was about how teachers need to make friends with the attendance secretary).
So yes, provide more incentive, say $10 for each day you're in all your classes, and at the end of the year provide access to say 25%, with the rest building in your account.
I need to learn more about Bolsa Familia and that program in Northern California that I've written about etc., but the point is that while EITC is great, like with the workforce thing, you need to pair it with more focused programmatic assistance.
2. TAXES. yes, things are f*ed. That's another thing I haven't written about yet.
Cities are deliberately being f*ed and what we might call "progressive social society" through other tax changes, even though they seem to be keeping the historic preservation and new markets credits (as a sop to developers in all likelihood, not because it can help cities) although in a diminished way.
WRT your point about property taxes, if the proposal remained the same--no SALT, property tax deduction only, it would have encouraged the city to raise property taxes because they'd be deductible. But yes, going after wage taxation would be a good strategy.
I was "processing" a box of miscellaneous papers in the basement and there was a Mass Transit mag. from 2014. I can't remember the city and agency featured in the monthly cover story feature, but they got something like not quite 50% of their operating funds from a wage-employment tax. It was a bus only agency. It wasn't Oregon, it wasn't the MTA in New York State. I'll dig it out again and begin to use it as one of the examples.
But I guess my only hope is that somehow these changes can be overturned by Democrats after 2018. It's not like the plan helps people who aren't rich and it certainly discriminates against wage earners (as opposed to people receiving "compensation" which is practically "capital" anyway).
RE: Cities and taxes
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/19/cities-republican-tax-bill-304123
another good one:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/18/parkland-dallas-frequent-flier-hospital-what-works-216108
I think I've mentioned the Dallas program... a DC Dep. Fire Chief lives close by and while we don't meet in person, we communicate by email via a neighborhood e-list. Anyway, he reached out to me last year I think and said that DC FEMS has a social worker now (I think) to work with this kind of population.
A couple weeks ago I created this image to go with the piece on taxes.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uz014yYYA38/WicHvWvlZtI/AAAAAAAAS2E/k34Bb-uF7OM4LehAP7I7fQW1et4nxQaHgCLcBGAs/s1600/dropdead.jpg
then again, I have limited graphic design capabilities of my own.
Well the polling and messaging has been very negative for the R.
I guess I am a real cynic; I think the D would have passed about the same in terms of corporate tax reform. The various proposals floated were about the same. (rate in the 20, deal on overseas cash).
The only two things that irate me are the carve out for real estate investors and debt (everyone else is limited). Also I would have kept individual rates the same.
If you want give a Christmas present to loyal readers, a summation of what you know on workforce development would be helpful!!!! or even just pointers to your past writing!
But the carveouts in the deal are pretty good (private bonds, affordable housing, HP credits, 10K on taxes) which may not be rolled back so easily.
maybe not for Xmas, but new year's. I have a short memo somewhere. It doesn't get into all the listing of good examples, but they're out there. It lays out the idea of a ladder, a three stage kind of thing, not unlike what Coalition for the Homeless does for drug rehab...
Community safety/policing/violence
In Scotland the police department has set up work based social enterprises as a way to help ex-offenders move into the work force, based on the Homeboy Industries model from Los Angeles
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13952456.The_LA_gang_initiative_inspiring_Scotland_s_latest_food_chain/
But the Violence Reduction Unit has other programs besides that one.
http://www.actiononviolence.org.uk/vru-projects
The Scottish program addressing knife crime (which is on the rise in London) was one of the initiatives leading to the creation of the VRU program.
https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/dec/03/how-scotland-reduced-knife-deaths-among-young-people
http://cureviolence.org/ (US)
FareStart restaurants, Seattle; Mary's Place arrangement with Amazon.
Cook County approach to evictions. "early warning system"
http://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gov-eviction-crisis-housing-homeless-cities-lc.html
http://www.governing.com/poy/gov-tom-dart.html
Brookings mentions a publication from AEI, based on a conference/symposium from 12/16:
http://www.aei.org/spotlight/this-way-up-home
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/a-chance-to-go-from-hard-lives-to-healing/
Program trains locals to be EMTs.
hmm, and that program reminds me of Latino Health Access, a program in Santa Ana.
https://www.project-access.org/
http://www.nreionline.com/multifamily/how-public-private-partnerships-may-provide-solution-affordable-housing-crisis
From a Guardian article on Finland's 10 best innovations:
Integrated health centres
Finland’s unique all-inclusive, integrated, municipal healthcare centres, introduced in 1972, offer community preventative, diagnostic and curative care; a dental service; GP-level (non-surgical) hospital care; home nursing services; mental health care; rehabilitation and occupational healthcare and ambulance services.
I don't agree. Knowing how to cook is key to eating better. Not that we should venerate poverty, but it is possible to eat decently without a lot of money.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/07/jamie-oliver-poor-people-diet-tips-obesity-class
A column by Michelle Singletary, the syndicated financial columnist, interviewed a financial advisor dealing with high income families who said they shouldn't be spending more than $300/month/person for food. Presumably that's buying a lot of expensive stuff.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/03/11/toronto-launches-next-phase-of-poverty-reduction-efforts.html
Mentions a youth training/job readiness program, Moving Toward Opportunity
=====from article:
An example of a successful program that could help more youth is Regent Park’s Moving Towards Opportunity, says Heela Omarkhail, manager of community partnerships for area developer The Daniels Corp.
The program, spearheaded by Daniels in 2015, matches employers with high school students who receive 12-weeks of job readiness training followed by eight weeks of summer employment and mentorship.
Daniels partners with Toronto Employment and Social Services, Dixon Hall, Pathways to Education, and the Yonge St. Mission to identify low-income households with teenagers who might qualify and provide job readiness training.
pre high school summer school for incoming freshmen at Hillcrest H.S. in Salt Lake City. The students are paid to attend.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2017/08/06/summer-program-pays-high-school-students-cash-to-get-a-head-start-on-classes/
Starbucks initiative to open stores in low income community, has a director of social impact, opens a store in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn:
https://www.amny.com/eat-and-drink/starbucks-bed-stuy-1.17858536
who gets to use park spaces in East Harlem:
https://www.amny.com/news/east-harlem-youth-sports-1.17866525
Very interesting. Story about Jamil Javani, author of _Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity_
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2018/04/06/my-friend-ended-up-in-jail-i-ended-up-at-yale-toronto-lawyer-and-activist-jamil-jivani-explores-the-destructive-ideas-that-can-influence-young-men.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/14/schools-education-pupils-families-home
Junior achievement student business development program, Hampton Roads
usiness/news/entrepreneurs-innovation/article_a63b7fd4-4342-11e8-b9a2-c7b072f7b3c5.html
4/20/2018
murder reduction strategies, public health approach:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/23/violent-murder-london-youth-rate-community-strategy
http://4frontproject.org/
- Red Hook Initiative, Brooklyn
http://rhicenter.org/
- Patrick Sharkey of NYU, book on why crime has fallen
https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/01/the-great-crime-decline-and-the-comeback-of-cities/549998/
- Georgia State University program focused on keeping at risk students enrolled and on the path to graduation
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/us/georgia-state-african-americans.html
Austin TX area:
children at risk report re schools serving high poverty demographics
https://www.mystatesman.com/news/local-education/austin-needs-more-for-low-income-students-new-study-says/yajirIFFGZsI71Jf1STHxK
school turnaround in Oshawa, ON included: giving students jobs at school such as "birthday greeters," volunteer work in the community and a two-day leadership camp.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/06/28/how-this-oshawa-school-went-from-faltering-to-flourishing-in-just-one-year.html
6/29/18
eXcel Leadership Academy for high school students, sponsored by the Norfolk VA Chamber of Commerce
https://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/millennials/article_39635b2e-8c4a-11e8-bd78-cf36b84f0386.html
7/25/2018
NYC, Lower East Side Employment Network
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/les-nonprofit-takes-space-essex-crossing
Access 4 All program, Alexandria VA Soccer Assn.
http://www.alexandria-soccer.org/community/spring2action/access4all
https://alextimes.com/2018/08/free-program-helps-city-children-score/
9/26/2018
"Matching Job Program to People Most in Need," NYT 6/20/2018
Discusses NYC programs and the various disconnects.
Some of the social equity initiatives of the Community Foodworks farmers market organization at the Columbia Heights DC farmers market:
http://edibledc.com/stories/theres-work-to-do
10/4/2018
Ideas for Toronto poverty reduction
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/10/08/10-people-10-solutions-for-poverty.html
TO Prosperity Plan, 2015
Councilman Joe Mihevc letter, "30 bold ideas"
https://www.joemihevc.com/tackling-poverty-in-our-city-2/
Highline College, Washington State, integration program for first generation minority students, based on a program in a couple California community colleges
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/black-scholars-find-support-success-in-highline-college-pilot-program/
11/17/2018
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/10/29/stop-treating-people-on-welfare-like-criminals-report-calls-for-ontario-to-take-new-approach.html
Report makes the point that the focus of the agency is on tracking spending, not outcomes, not whether or not the programs are successful in helping people out of poverty.
https://on360.ca/policy-papers/
Toronto equity initiatives in budget:
https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2019/11/06/toronto-council-to-consider-anti-poverty-plan-that-includes-expanding-ttc-discounts.html
Social Planning Toronto advocacy group
https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/
They discuss "community infrastructure" as an element of poverty reduction.
https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/hub-toolkit
2. PGH plans to invest in parks in deprived areas in particular because of the link to quality of life improvement.
https://projects.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-parks/
article on the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration Project (SEED, UBI, $500/mo.).
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/10/town-gives-families-500-dollars-month-results
Innovation Works, capacity building and technical assistance social entrepreneurship venture in Baltimore, aiming to work with developing businesses within distressed Baltimore neighborhoods, building the business ecosystem at the neighborhood scale.
https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2019/07/10/the-takeaway-innovation-works-looks-to-lift-up.html
transitional housing up to 2 years for young mothers. Targeted program, Kent Youth and Family Services, Washington State
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/young-mothers-with-nowhere-to-go-find-a-home-at-kents-watson-manor
Childhaven program, Seattle
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/my-kids-changed-so-much-childhaven-gives-transformational-help-and-is-transforming-itself-to-serve-more-children-facing-adversity/
12/2019
Welcome Home OC, United Way program works with property owners and people with HUD Section 8 vouchers, with philanthropic support to provide wraparound services for new tenants, help with security deposits, improve stability.
https://www.unitedtoendhomelessness.org/welcomehome
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/09/20/united-way-program-entices-landlords-in-orange-county-to-rent-to-homeless-people-with-housing-vouchers/
12/2019
Baltimore Equity Assessment Program and Equity Assistance Fund
https://citiesspeak.org/2019/01/21/how-baltimore-is-advancing-racial-equity-policy-practice-procedure/
Boston needs to adopt a planning equity standard
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/04/opinion/boston-needs-adopt-planning-equity-standard
Building an Agenda to Reduce the Number of Children in Poverty by Half in 10 Years; National Academy of Sciences
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/building-an-agenda-to-reduce-the-number-of-children-in-poverty-by-half-in-10-years
From 1969-1975 activists operated the "Black Appalachian Commission" to organize around the Appalachian Regional Commission economic development initiative, and to organize a regional black consciousness on economic and social issues in the Appalachias.
https://www.aaihs.org/appalachian-hillsides-as-black-ecologies-housing-memory-and-the-sanctified-hill-disaster-of-1972/
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Power-Comes-Appalachia-Appalachian/dp/0998321915
"Mapping Black Ecologies"
https://crdh.rrchnm.org/essays/v02-05-mapping-black-ecologies/
_Black Geographies and the Politics of Place_
https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/covid-response-center/conversations/four-priorities-for-supporting-black-americans-during-and-after-covid-19
-- community investment
-- building family wealth
-- building family income
-- building family savings
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/covid-19-investing-in-black-lives-and-livelihoods
_Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap_
Mehrsa Baradaran, UC
+ "banking while black"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/business/banks-black-customers-racism.html
"Coronavirus could widen black wealth gap"/inequalities of homeownership
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/13/black-wealth-matters-homeownership-is-key
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/how-economic-crises-and-sudden-disasters-increase-racial-disparities-homeownership
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/business/paycheck-protection-program-bias.html
Black Business Owners Had a Harder Time Getting Federal Aid, a Study Finds
"How loan bias hinders black firms", LA Times, 6/21/2020 A23
Use value of place. It takes a village, community involvement in household success in Philadelphia.
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/chosen-family-slavery-migration-trauma-village-20211125.html
The Boston Globe: Kim Janey to lead nonprofit targeting poverty.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/23/metro/kim-janey-lead-nonprofit-targeting-poverty/
Economic Mobility Pathways
EMPath’s “Mobility Mentoring” model has helped low-income families multiply their incomes, earn advanced degrees and good jobs, and save money, the company said in a news release.
EMPath Board Chair Rob Reilly said the organization is “thrilled” to welcome Janey.
“This is a pivotal moment for the organization as we work towards our vision of a world where every person experiencing poverty gets the tools, skills, and support they need to get out of it—for good,” Reilly said in a statement. “With Mayor Janey’s deep understanding of the issue and longstanding commitment to serving her community, we know she’s the right person to get us there.”
"Ontario needs a government that will legislate health, not poverty"
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/05/27/ontario-needs-a-government-that-will-legislate-health-not-poverty.html
Low social assistance rates are not just legislated poverty — they are legislated destitution, and legislated poor health. Research has shown poor health is a direct consequence of living in poverty. These policy choices do not save us money — in fact, they provide people like us — legal aid lawyers and doctors — with a steady stream of business, paid for out of other pockets of the public purse.
This election, none of the three major parties are offering enough to people living in deep poverty.
Let’s start by raising social assistance rates to at least the levels offered through CERB (plus an extra supplement to cover the needs of people living with disabilities). And then let’s build other social programs to ensure every person in Ontario has their basic needs met, can live free from discrimination, and can stay out of our legal and medical offices.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-program-helps-homeless-people-and-neighborhoods-at-the-same-time
"Seattle program helps homeless people and neighborhoods at the same time"
8/31/2022
the Seattle Conservation Corps, a program that provides homeless people with wages, training and wraparound services for an entire year. ...
The Parks Department manages the program, which seems tailor-made for Seattle today, where skyrocketing housing costs have spawned a street camping crisis, exacerbated by inadequate care for people struggling with mental health challenges, trauma and drugs. The Corps caters to a particularly marginalized group of people experiencing homelessness: those recovering from addiction or recently released from incarceration.
Participants get help with housing, health care and education, all while being paid and building skills. They start out at the minimum wage of $17.27 an hour, can earn more and leave for jobs at the city and with construction unions. The Corps normally serves about 50 participants at a time.
The program’s annual budget is currently $4.25 million, and the actual cost is much lower: 75% of the money comes from city departments that pay the Corps for work they would otherwise be paying someone else to do.
Good Neighborhood Ambassador Program, job training/entry level, in association with building projects by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
https://thelandcle.org/stories/as-sewer-district-builds-tunnels-its-good-neighbor-ambassador-program-builds-job-skills/
2/23/2023
irst launched in 2013, the Good Neighbor Ambassador program is two-fold. It not only more deeply embeds NEORSD in the communities it serves with ambassadors performing site cleanup, maintenance, and beautification, but the program also provides its ambassadors with career development opportunities to put them on the path to sustainable employment. And it’s continuing to gain momentum: right now, the district is recruiting for its ninth ambassador cohort and also held its first-ever job fair in mid-February.
The goal? Opening doors for Clevelanders who may not otherwise be able to make inroads job-wise. “[Typically] there is an experience level or a degree required to come into the sewer district,” explains Crystal Davis, Government Affairs Program Manager for NEORSD. “We have eliminated some of those barriers and created this pipeline so that unemployed and underemployed individuals can have options they wouldn’t normally have.”
POC focused project in Des Moines. Mixed use, housing + businesses, including a nonprofit business incubator.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/development/2022/08/21/center-sixth-launch-black-owned-businesses-farmers-market-des-moines-jambo-nadia/10357397002/
2 Black-owned businesses find success with Center @ Sixth incubator, months before it breaks ground
Meanwhile, Ashworth is preparing to break ground on the four-story, $10 million development in the spring. The first floor will include three anchor tenants — a yet-to-be-announced local coffee shop and a restaurant, as well as a tasting room for Ashworth's Ziyad Rye, featuring new and favorite products plus guest pours from other Black and brown whiskey producers.
In between the anchors, there will be 1,000 square feet of retail space and two food stands for businesses going through the incubator. The products will rotate as businesses come in and out of the program, with the idea that customers can drop by any day and find something new.
The mezzanine will have classrooms for the entrepreneurs to learn business skills and offices they can use. Ultimately, the goal is to get business owners prepared to set out on their own, whether it's in a storefront or partnering with another business. Hy-Vee has pledged to sell some of the successful products, Ashworth said.
The building also will have 32 apartments, with 51% of the units reserved for renters earning 80% or less of the area median income.
Center @ Sixth recently received $1.8 million in tax increment financing from the Des Moines City Council. The council also agreed to provide a $300,000 match should the Iowa Economic Development Authority choose Ashworth for a grant from the state's new Nonprofit Innovation Fund. Gov. Kim Reynolds created the $20 million fund this year with federal American Rescue Plan Act money to help nonprofit organizations expand to meet the needs of Iowans.
Social enterprise, coffee shop, on ground floor of Asian Counseling and Referral Service in Seattle. Partly operated with volunteers.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-making-a-cup-of-coffee-at-seattles-cafe-hope-can-give-people-something-to-call-their-own/
How making a cup of coffee at Seattle’s Cafe Hope can give people something to call their own
12/3/2023
More than a decade ago, the agency launched Cafe Hope as a way to help clients suffering from major depressive disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress, among other things, said Man-Ting Lam, a behavioral health wellness coordinator.
Cafe Hope sits on the agency’s ground floor, nestled underneath the staircase that forms a spine to the building. Clients working at the cafe hustle back and forth between the espresso machine and the stock of syrups and flavors off to the side. Agency employees and visitors stop in throughout the day, chatting with each other and their friends behind the counter.
Sure, they could stop at a chain coffee shop on their way in, the customers agree, but why not spend the money at Cafe Hope. They can order whatever they want (peppermint drinks for the holidays are now on the menu) and they appreciate giving their business to familiar and friendly faces. Sure doesn’t hurt that the prices are reasonable too, they note.
About five clients, including Khem, volunteer their time at Cafe Hope. Most have worked there for years.
Improvements among clients working at the cafe might seem small but they’re significant, Lam said. They work on their memory with drink orders and practice teamwork and communication skills, not only with their co-workers but also the cafe’s customers. Sticking to a work schedule offers a bit of structure, Lam said, and so does maintaining their uniforms.
The skill set can transfer into employment, Lam said. But the biggest marks of success with clients like Khem is a change in behavior. The work gives them something in which they can take pride and encourages them to be more confident to learn, more confident to interact with other people and a feeling of self worth.
The approach offered by Cafe Hope is a nontraditional one, said Rose Sneed, behavioral health clinical director. The process can be more palatable to clients who might not otherwise welcome more Western methods of offering mental health care.
Interesting point that a lot of low income families without child care find their opportunities for work etc. limited.
Early childhood education provides them with day care.
Can a new early reading program help revive this poor Mississippi town?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/can-new-early-reading-program-help-revive-poor-mississippi-town-rcna121888
Social enterprise, free clothes for low income people, presented through a "retail shop" in Vancouver, Washington.
'We've been saved': Community steps up for The Giving Closet in Vancouver, keeping store for low-income people open
https://www.columbian.com/news/2023/dec/05/weve-been-saved-community-steps-up-for-the-giving-closet-in-vancouver-keeping-store-for-low-income-people-open/
This article for a United Way project in a neighborhood in Toronto includes discussion about a community focused construction company that is half owned by the community.
The priorities identified by the community remind me of the proscriptions from the Community Economic Development Handbook.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/unitedway/how-the-power-of-partnership-is-building-neighbourhoods/article_48f0c460-7a50-11ee-a2d7-0b79c47e2fef.html
How the power of partnership is building neighbourhoods
11/9/2023
During a series of town halls, stakeholders came up with the Golden Mile Community Benefits Framework that identified three priorities: good jobs, affordable housing and strong community services. This framework is informed by more than 20 community-based organizations and almost 700 resident voices speaking 18 different languages
... Economic opportunity is another top concern. That’s why the Aecon-Golden Mile(A-GM) joint venture was created, to ensure the community would benefit from more than just jobs as the neighbourhood revitalized. As a 51 per cent community-owned construction company, more than half of the profits generated by A-GM will be reinvested into the community with the goal of expanding economic opportunities for residents.
The Good Jobs initiative is also helping to solve a long-standing challenge where job seekers with skills and training have been unsuccessful in finding employment, while simultaneously helping employers with recruitment and retention for certain roles.
Offered through UWGT and ACCES Employment, Good Jobs is a neighbourhood-based, employer-focused program that aims to create opportunities for local job seekers in the GGM neighbourhood where many residents face barriers to employment.
Free access to cultural places and spaces as an equity issue.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/12/business/michelle-wu-free-museums
Michelle Wu doubles down on the politics of ‘free,’ from the MBTA to museums
It’s the kind of big idea that feels like a political pipe dream. That is, until Wu makes her case and makes it happen.
Few of us could have predicted back in 2019, when she was a city councilor that her viral Globe op-ed “Forget fare hikes — make the T free” would spark a movement for fare-free transit across the Commonwealth. Today more than a dozen municipalities, including Boston, are experimenting with free fares on some bus routes.
Now comes Wu’s push for free admission to museums and cultural institutions, an initiative underway in other cities, including the Los Angeles area and San Francisco. The idea has long been talked about in Boston, but she’s the first mayor to make a go of it.
During her State of the City address on Tuesday, she announced that starting in February, Boston Public Schools families can enjoy free admission to the Boston Children’s Museum, Museum of Science, Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, New England Aquarium, and the Franklin Park Zoo on the first and second Sunday of each month.
BPS serves a majority-minority population of about 45,000 students. Each student can bring up to three family members on free admission days. Thousands of people are expected to participate in the pilot that will run through August.
... For Wu, making cultural institutions accessible is part of her equity agenda, a way to make the city more inclusive by eliminating the economic barriers that keep families in Mattapan, Roxbury or East Boston from venturing into the Seaport District or downtown. Admission to the children’s museum can be $22 a visitor; the aquarium is $34.
... The Wu administration began working on a pilot a year ago, first meeting with the four family-focused institutions: the children’s museum, science museum, aquarium, and zoo. During the pandemic, these organizations forged a bond developing reopening plans after COVID-19 shut their doors. They’ve worked closely ever since.
... The city hired a consultant to help the organizations evaluate how a public-private partnership might work. Later in the process, the city brought in the ICA and the MFA, and by the end of the year, the organizations agreed to do a pilot.
Typically, these organizations build free and discounted programs into their budgets. Having BPS as a partner would help them extend their reach because the school system can do a better job disseminating information, including the ability to communicate the message in 10 languages.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/metro/boston-free-museums
Boston Public School students and families to get free admission to Boston museums, Wu says
Echoes the arguments made by former Mayor of Charleston, Joe Riley, about having great civic assets in your home town, rather than having to travel to them in other places.
Past Its Golden Moment, Bogotá Clings to Hope
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/arts/design/bogota-with-pockets-of-hope-in-recent-architecture.html
The larger story of Bogotá’s former progress really goes beyond Mr. Mockus and Mr. Peñalosa to plans devised for the city more than a decade ago by remarkable architects and urban planners like Lorenzo Castro, who laid out squares, bridges, public spaces and other areas for civic improvement. A government initiative to recover parcels of the city taken over by private individuals (rich and poor), turning them into places for the benefit of whole communities, played an equally crucial role in changing the map and political climate.
On a recent visit I found pockets of hope that still endure in works of public architecture built in and around the city, many linked to the rapid bus lines and the bike lanes. Ultimately Bogotá is a reminder that the economic and social lives of neighborhoods and whole cities rise and fall depending on access to public transit, public parks, public spaces.
El Tintal Public Library, a concrete behemoth in the Kennedy district, occupies a former garbage-processing plant. It was one of the major new libraries devised under Mr. Peñalosa’s leadership, close to the TransMilenio. Daniel Bermudez Samper, the architect, reused the truck ramps and the “nave” of the plant, where the trucks dumped their loads, to create a ceremonial entry connected to new parkland and a palatial, sky-lighted reading room, with a theater downstairs.
When I visited, a librarian, Mayerlyn Carolina, told me that thousands of people use the place each day: “We have workshops in literature, we show movies, we have services for the elderly. It’s the community’s center.”
... Some new public buildings in the city I found disheartening. I was taken on a tour of housing projects in Bosa. City officials have been pouring money into what resemble the faceless apartment blocks, remote from retail and street life, that plagued American cities during the last century. The most vibrant streets I saw, packed with small shops and crowds, were the rutted, messy ones that grew organically, informally. The situation is as it is elsewhere in underdeveloped neighborhoods: City planners and government officials need to upgrade housing and infrastructure, without undermining homegrown energy and ground-up urbanism.
... For his part Mr. Mazzanti has praised Cedric Price, the English architect, whose legacy from the heyday of Swinging London might seem germane to a different society and setting. But Price, who died almost a decade ago, preached a gospel of open-endedness and delight, of architecture as a catalyst for reshaping relationships between people and public institutions, the public and public space. Price embraced impermanence, in buildings and society. Architecture was forever adaptable to change, he said. His unbuilt Fun Palace, conceived with Joan Littlewood, the British theater director, proposed modules and movable parts. Mr. Mazzanti’s kindergarten and canopy are modular structures but also symbolic aggregators, bringing together ideas about childhood and education, lightness and play.
Before I left Bogotá, I met with Mr. Castro, the urban planner and architect, and what he said about the Tintal library could be said about El Porvenir and Cazucá too. “People in the neighborhood live in a room with five people in a small house with three other families, but they go there and see the space, the construction, the comfort and safety,” he told me. “And suddenly, maybe for the first time, they feel included in society, in the city. They can dream.”
Black developers are trying to build homes on Philly-owned land. They’re part of a program to diversify the industry that’s got other cities intrigued.
Black Squirrel's Philly RiSE program is helping developers of color get land from the Philadelphia Land Bank to try to diversify the real estate industry and build housing wealth.
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/philadelphia-rise-program-real-estate-diversity-land-bank-20240108.html
The session’s crowd at the Urban Land Institute’s spring conference started off a decent size. But by the time the men had finished their presentation about the Philly RiSE program and how it extends capital and networks to people historically excluded from the development industry
Developers of color just graduated from a new Philly program that aims for equity in real estate
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/rise-program-philadelphia-black-brown-businesses-developers-20221228.html
Beyond the Bars, a community and career-planning nonprofit that uses music to help young people escape cycles of violence and incarceration.
http://beyondthebarsmusic.com/
The solidarity signs were furnished to these homeowners by the nonprofit Black Legacy Homeowners Network, founded by executive director Chukundi Salisbury — himself a proud Black homeowner.
BLHN equips Black homeowners across the Puget Sound area with education, resources and support to help them build community, buy homes and keep their homes for future generations.
... LHN has its work cut out for it. Even though it’s been more than half a century since the passage of the Fair Housing Act, Black residents continue to face outsized challenges in becoming homeowners and keeping their homes.
In Washington, 35% of Black households own their own homes, compared with 68% of white households. Last year, a King County study estimated that racist housing policies have cost Black families in King County between $5.4 billion and $15.8 billion in intergenerational wealth. Because of these housing disparities, about a third of Black households have zero net worth compared with about 12% of white households.
Much of this stems from a long history of redlining — a racist and discriminatory housing policy with roots in the early 1900s that restricted where people could buy homes in Seattle. Redlining pushed Black people into the Central District and Chinatown International District and severely limited where Black people could own homes.
Redlining forced homeowners of color into underinvested neighborhoods and “stripped Black folks of their homes [and] of their wealth building,” said Nicole Bascomb-Green, a core team member of the Black Home Initiative, another organization working to increase Black homeownership in the region.
“Homeownership loss is a widespread issue. That is insidious to the Black community,” said Bascomb-Green, who’s also president of Western Washington Realtist, the local board of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers.
... BLHN wants to turn that narrative on its head. As Salisbury puts it, instead of receiving an unsolicited visit from a developer looking to buy their home, what if more Black homeowners received a door knock from someone touting resources to help them hold on to their home?
The group builds off the “This House Is Not For Sale” campaign Salisbury launched in 2020 to try and curb gentrification in the Central District and South Seattle by stopping developers from making unsolicited calls and offers on their properties. Salisbury launched the signage during his campaign to represent Washington’s 37th District in the state House. While he was not elected, the effort helped bring people together to protect Black homes in Seattle. A year later, Salisbury founded Black Legacy Homeowners Network as a grassroots group to stabilize Black homeowners and connect them to resources.
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/in-seattle-the-black-legacy-homeowners-network-continues-the-fight-mlk-jr-started
1/13/2024
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/how-training-in-the-trades-is-helping-wa-women-succeed-after-prison/
How training in the trades is helping WA women succeed after prison
1/14/2024
A year after being released from prison, 3 out of 4 people are unemployed. But the day after Brittany Wright, 30, got out in June, she was reporting to work.
Thanks to a program that trains incarcerated women in well-paying trades, she had the skills and connections she needed to start a job at Kiewit, a Seattle construction and engineering firm. Now, six months later, she’s earning $31 per hour working on a light rail expansion project for Sound Transit.
The 16-week state program, called Trades Related Apprenticeship Coaching, or TRAC, helps combat a monumental challenge incarcerated people face when they reenter society: quickly finding jobs with decent wages in fields that will actually employ people with prison records.
... Wright and other formerly incarcerated people have an almost five times greater likelihood of being unemployed than other adults, the Prison Policy Initiative estimates. The unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated individuals is also 27%, greater than the highest general unemployment rate during both the Great Depression and the 2008 recession.
... Formerly incarcerated people who do find jobs earn only around half of the wages of the average worker, with even greater disparities for Black, Native American and Latino people, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. In some industries, such as health care, people with felonies or specific types of convictions are often banned altogether.
Why Minnesota's $5 billion development initiative is starting with Black homeownership
https://www.startribune.com/ramstad-why-minnesotas-biggest-development-initiative-starts-with-black-home-ownership/600339024/
1/27/2024
For more than a year, the Twin Cities nonprofit community, elected leaders and bankers have been working on a development initiative that may ultimately be valued around $5 billion, the largest in absolute dollars that the region has ever seen.
... The first programs will be aimed at the region's Black residents, the group farthest behind in owning homes and businesses.
"Next year it's really going out and getting potential homeowners, business owners, wealth-builders, developers into the systems we set up this current year," Tonya Allen, McKnight's president, told me earlier this month.
It's an amazing effort for many reasons, including the number of people and amount of money involved. Another is that the initiative is grounded in a concept called "targeted universalism," which Allen mentioned briefly at the coalition's public event in October.
The concept, she told me, is to set a goal that is good for everyone in a community, not just those who will be helped the most by reaching it. Doing that shifts the focus from ending a negative, such as income disparities, to creating a positive, such as everyone doing well.
"You have a universal goal, and you want to get everybody to that goal," Allen said. "And we know with specific populations, you have to have targeted strategies to be able to get them to the goal. A one-size solution is not going to fit everyone."
For more than a decade, targeted universalism has been promoted as a better approach for solving difficult problems involving race and inequality by the civil rights lawyer and professor john a. powell, who taught at the University of Minnesota in the 1990s and is now at the University of California-Berkeley.
... Over a series of meetings that McKnight convened starting in 2022, bankers and NGO leaders arrived at a goal of getting every racial group in the Twin Cities to a homeownership rate of 70%. They decided to start with Black residents because they are the farthest from that level, at 19%. Only white residents in the Twin Cities currently exceed the 70% threshold.
"What we're trying to do is ask the institutions with capital to behave in a different way and to organize that capital to help people, particularly in this case Black families, to use it," Allen said.
The coalition is developing a process for banks to be more flexible when they discuss loan opportunities with low-income residents. For Black entrepreneurs, the group is creating a loan guarantee program and a pool of low-cost, long-term investment capital. One goal is for Black real estate developers to find it easier to put together a stack of financing to get projects going.
‘We’re going to change lives’: How the city’s new workforce director plans to roll out the voter-approved Ready to Work initiative
https://www.mysanantonio.com/sa-inc/article/We-re-going-to-change-lives-How-the-16431171.php
9/3/21
Ramsey is now responsible for rolling out the four-year, $200 million Ready to Work job-training initiative that voters approved by a 3-1 margin last November. The city of San Antonio hired Ramsey last month to run its newly formed Workforce Development Department, which will oversee the program.
... Ready to Work is the successor program to Train for Jobs. Out-of-work residents will be able to pursue bachelor’s and associate degrees through Ready to Work. Nirenberg said 40,000 San Antonio families would “get a new economic start” though the larger, four-year program.
Train for Jobs was funded with $65 million from the city, and it was designed to be a short-term initiative that provides months-long training courses to get workers new credentials and quickly back into jobs. Train for Jobs started a year ago and had placed 467 participants in new jobs as of mid-August. Nearly 3,100 people had either enrolled in or completed some training by then.
That’s far from 10,000 gainfully employed workers.
... Once it’s rolled out, Ramsey will be overseeing one of the largest worker-training efforts a U.S. city has ever undertaken with taxpayer funding.
In November, San Antonio voters approved a ⅛-cent sales tax that will generate about $40 million annually for SA Ready to Work.
... Project Quest — which COPS/Metro established in the mid-1990s — is a San Antonio-based training program viewed as a nationwide gold standard for local workforce development. The program has placed 90 percent of its participants into jobs, mostly in health care, that pay more than four times what participants previously earned.
It costs $10,500, on average, over nearly two years to get a Project Quest participant through training and into a job.
Ready to Work will provide $4,000 to $6,000 for each participant annually, depending on how much they need for tuition, emergency assistance and other expenses.
No economic mobility without robust transit
https://keepsamoving.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KSAM-news_article-SAEN-10-09-20.pdf
The [VIA transit, San Antonio] plan reflects the core belief that public transit puts opportunity for more people within reach — and that a city’s economy must include an
accessible transportation network. You can’t have economic mobility without physical mobility. Even if you do not ride VIA, you are likely
affected by the work of people who do.
The plan is available for download at KeepSAmoving.com, and includes materials with details about the plan design, timeline, proposed investments, and information about the proposition related to transit funding on the Nov. 3 ballot.
... More than half of VIA riders are employed, usually full time, and ride VIA five to seven days a week. Most live below the poverty level and don’t
have access to a personal vehicle. Many cannot work from home. Forty-two percent more residents would have access to frequent bus service, and 30 percent more people would access service to job centers for the first time. This includes low-income populations, people in homes with one car or fewer, and people with disabilities.
Together, community easing digital divide
June 11, 2020|
https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Commentary-Together-community-easing-digital-15333898.php
In a pre-COVID-19 world, the lack of reliable internet access, computers and training already hindered families’ ability to participate in the local and global economy. In this COVID-19 era, the digital barrier has been devastating, cutting their access to everything from online learning to telehealth services.
According to the Digital Inclusion Alliance San Antonio, 1 in 4 households on the South, East and West sides — where economic mobility has been stifled, leading to generational poverty — do not have access to the internet.
Amid it all, San Antonio Housing Authority, or SAHA, residents have found themselves in uncharted territory.
In a city named the poorest, largest metropolitan city in America, digital access is key. The lack of broadband connectivity should be considered a basic utility, like water or electricity. We would take emergency action if one of our San Antonio neighborhoods did not have access to water or electricity. We should have the same sense of urgency for internet access.
The link between low internet connectivity numbers and marginalized communities is indisputable. The Brookings Institution noted in its recent report that broadband is the country’s most inequitable infrastructure and those least likely to have broadband in America are low-income communities of color.
The San Antonio Housing Authority has nearly 6,800 students in its public housing communities, many of whom live in the near East Side and West Side and attend public school where only 54.4 percent of students have access to a computer.
We commend the school districts that distributed laptops to families for online education. While children are growing up with smart devices as a way of life, school districts were forced to bring in new teaching platforms unfamiliar to some families who were suddenly given the role of teacher, without the basic knowledge of devices or the internet.
The San Antonio Housing Authority has been bridging the digital divide for low-income individuals and families since 2015 with the formation of ConnectHomeSA, a partnership between SAHA, the private sector and the federal government. It was spearheaded by Julián Castro, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary, and former San Antonio mayor.
Through ConnectHomeSA, about 4,000 SAHA residents have completed more than 18,000 hours of computer literacy training. Nearly 1,000 residents have access to a hot spot or free Wi-Fi. ConnectHomeSA is a national model of best practices.
Recently, the SAHA board approved $4 million to expand Wi-Fi to SAHA residents. Paired with the city of San Antonio’s $27 million allocation for digital inclusion, this is a huge step in the right direction.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/nonprofits-philanthropy/hire360-building-chicago-after-mackenzie-scott-donation
This construction nonprofit grabbed MacKenzie Scott's attention
A nonprofit that helps build up Chicago and diversify the city’s construction industry is expanding its operation, with a big helping hand from famed billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Hire360, which connects minority businesses and communities to contracts and careers in the construction industry, is nearing completion on the renovation of a 40,000-square-foot warehouse at 26th and State streets in Bronzeville that will serve as its business and development hub.
The $8 million project, which is slated to open in the spring, will allow the nonprofit to scale up its ambitions, bringing its construction and apprenticeship training right to the workforce under one roof.
The new site will include spaces dedicated to learning the different trades, pre-apprenticeship training, and a location to help new contractors conduct business and access other resources. Jay Rowell, executive director of the nonprofit, said it will also be outfitted with hospitality training to serve its members who work with Chicago’s Unite Here Local 1 union, which represents culinary and hospitality workers in the city.
https://caracollective.org/
Capacity building for workforce development.
https://www.skillsforchicagolandsfuture.com/
We reduce barriers and increase equity.
The biggest barrier to equity in job search is a professional network. Many job seekers are overlooked because they do not have the connections that can help them get through the hiring process. By developing a strong network of trusted employer partners, Skills has created a network that our talented job seekers can tap into.
Our model helps our candidates connect directly to hiring managers, giving them the tools and connections to succeed. Our focus on the south and west sides of Chicago helps us impact economic mobility in Chicago's historically under invested communities.
Lori Lightfoot launches new Chicago nonprofit
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/nonprofits-philanthropy/lori-lightfoot-starts-new-chicago-nonprofit
1/18/24
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the launch of her new nonprofit, Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective.
The nonprofit aims to supply community organizations in disinvested neighborhoods with tools, services and other resources. In addition, it will aid partners in technical assistance for budgeting, data analytics and fundraising support.
Social enterprise coffee shop, Not Your Average Joe
Above 'Average': How one OKC business is making history, progress through inclusion
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/lifestyle/food/2023/04/20/coffee-shop-okc-oklahoma-city-not-your-average-joe-nonprofit-inclusion-making-history/70084751007/
Not Your Average Joe is a nonprofit Oklahoma-based coffee shop that offers "meaningful customer facing employment," as well as "social engagement and continuing education" to students and adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.
The concept, which allows those commonly overlooked for employment to use and gain skills, came from the mind of Executive Director Tim Herbel as a way to honor his nephew.
“The genesis of not your average Joe is my nephew, Braxton, who was born with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus,” Herbel said. "Despite his disabilities, he was the joy of our family, and he brought light to everyone with his smiles and giggles — but Braxton experienced a life of exclusion.”
https://www.nyaj.coffee/
"In 2019, there was a coffee shop, which was formerly Hank's," said Madi Taylor, director of campus and community engagement for the company. "They said if you make enough profit, we will donate it to you and so that is when our first store opened — January 1 of 2019."
The store survived the pandemic and in 2021 opened four additional locations, each employing several "friends" as they're called by staff, including the location at the Homeland on May that also serves as an Express Employment Training Center.
“Express has partnered with us to help grow our friends with special needs, not just their employment skills, but to work on social engagement, employment and education,” Taylor said. “When friends are on shift there, they are talking to customers, they’re sampling, but they're also learning how to count money, how to have different life skills.”
North Lawndale Employment Network, Chicago
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-chicago-dnc-2024-and-beyond/dnc-visitors-can-see-chicago-beyond-headlines-opinion
https://www.nlen.org/
"Black entrepreneurs try to fill the wealth gap"
WSJ, 1/26/24
Creation of black focused chambers of commerce
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2024/12/02/pittsburgh-black-community-survey-b-pep-university-pittsburgh/stories/202412020083
Survey launched to study the retention of Pittsburgh's waning Black community
A group of local community leaders came together Monday to announce the launch of a survey aimed at understanding why some Black Pittsburghers decide to leave the region.
The Black Political Empowerment Project’s (B-PEP) Corporate Equity Inclusion Roundtable (CEIR) — which is working in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work’s Center for Race and Social Problems — officially launched the project, titled the Black Pittsburgh Satisfaction and Retention survey, Monday night during a press conference at the Kingsley Association in Larimer.
Tim Stevens, CEO of B-PEP, said the project will provide vital information in understanding why some members of the Black community decide to leave the Pittsburgh region, which has seen a dwindling African American population over the past few years while other demographics have increased.
Social enterprise grocery and coffee shop run by a church in Minneapolis.
https://www.startribune.com/medcalf-meet-carl-johnson-a-st-paul-pastor-helping-to-feed-his-neighborhood/601192692
Meet Carl Johnson, a St. Paul pastor helping to feed his neighborhood
He leads a church and community center that offers hot meals, a coffee shop, groceries and job training.
12/9/2024
https://archive.li/IKXrj
Paid to learn? Detroit students can earn big cash to attend tutoring sessions
Detroit News, 12/11/24
Students volunteering to extend their school day for an hour of afterschool tutoring four times a week are earning up to $2,000 cash under a new program at the Detroit public school system.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District said it is paying high school students to participate in a literacy program designed to sharpen reading and writing skills ahead of graduation. Students must attend 40 sessions total, four days a week for 11 weeks, according to the district. The first payout of $1,000 is after students complete 20 sessions. Then after 20 more sessions, another $1,000 is paid.
Interest in the extra schooling has far outpaced the district's ability to supply tutors, leading to a waitlist with hundreds of students.
... The tutoring program is attempting to address several issues. The district, where state assessment scores in reading and writing remain way below state averages, desperately needs to make gains in student literacy. Most in-school literacy programs have focused on K-5 students, so the district chose high school students for the extra intervention after school.
And in a district where 82.5% of students are considered economically disadvantaged — compared with 54.3% statewide — most Detroit teens and their families have unmet needs that cash can address, school officials said.
... The structured program is four days a week, Monday through Thursday, at the student's high school. Students must attend every session to get paid, and they must be in attendance at their high school that day as well — so no skipping day school to get paid at tutoring.
"We needed students to understand that it is a pretty robust schedule, and you must be in attendance every day in order for the intervention to honestly have an impact," Campbell-Williams said. "As always in our district, you need to be in school every day, and so this supports with that. So you have to be at every session in order to be paid. And the superintendent has been extremely clear about that."
Sessions are one-on-one and in small groups. Students are assessed at the beginning to determine their grade-level performance in reading and will be reassessed at the end to determine progress, district officials said.
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