CRA Exams Aren't Cutting It

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Also in this issue: 7 Ways to Help Workers With Unpredictable Schedules * Organizing and Community Land Trusts

Events

Desperate Measures: Survival Strategies of the Poorest of the Poor | Washington, DC | Jan. 27

Over the past two decades, the number of families living with little to no income has climbed. Sponsored by the Urban Institute, this panel discussion will explore why assistance programs are essentially nonexistent for many who need them most.

Online Event | Stepping Up to Make a Difference: The Vital Role of Anchor Institutions in Community Health Improvement | Jan. 27

From hospitals and health systems to universities, anchor institutions are organizations with deep roots and longevity as major employers in their communities. RSVP here for this web forum sponsored by the Public Health Institute and others, in which leaders from anchor institutions will discuss how they are increasingly working outside their own walls to make lasting contributions to the regions they serve.

Webinar | The Promise of Children's Savings | Jan. 28

Part of CFED's National Week of Action, this virtual briefing will introduce
Children's Savings Accounts (CSAs) and their impact, discuss examples of successful programs, and provide resources for those interested in starting a CSA program in their community.

Cities Building Community Wealth | CUNY School of Law | Jan. 29

In this free event, CUNY School of Law, the Democracy Collaborative and Surdna Foundation will highlight the work of innovative city leaders working to build more inclusive, equitable, and cooperative economies, and discuss how municipal policy can be best used to build community wealth. See list of speakers and register here.

Opportunity

2016 NALCAB Colegio Fellowship: Call for Applications!

Established in 2010, NALCAB Colegio was developed to ensure that next generation Latino leaders develop the practical, personal and professional skills needed to fill the increasing leadership gap in community economic development nonprofit organizations across the country. Learn more and apply here.

7 Ways to Help Workers with Unpredictable Schedules

Tara Marlowe, Rutgers Law School Fellow

Just-in-time scheduling is an abusive practice, and people are working to end it. In the meantime, here are some ways community groups can change their practices to better help the most vulnerable workers . . . More

CRA Exams Aren't Cutting It

Josh Silver, NCRC

CRA exams were meant to ensure that banks are serving low-income communities. But if 98 percent of banks in our current climate are getting passing grades, something is wrong. More

Organizing and Community Land Trusts

Miriam Axel-Lute and Dana Hawkins-Simons, Shelterforce

What happens when organizers win a campaign for community control of land? That depends a lot on the choices they make about how to exercise that control . . . More

Review of City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis,

edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb
Miriam Axel-Lute, Shelterforce

The essays in this book have a lot of merit, but to say people are writing about home, and then leave out the perspective of people writing about their actual homes is strange. It makes for a book in which . . . More

You Said It!

On How Are We Responsible for Baltimore?

I find the subject line of the email I received from Shelterforce (in which a link to this article was included) incredibly offensive. "Repairs-for-Sex Scandal: Just a Symptom" . . . Implying that these women somehow traded sexual favors for repairs to their apartments is beyond unacceptable. They were sexually abused, extorted by the very people who should have been assisting them, and the victims of a very serious crime. We need to stop sugar-coating what happened to these women and actually speak frankly and honestly about how to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Firing our Housing Commissioner would be a good first step, using language that properly reflects what happened to these women would be another. --Carol Ott

Editor Reply

I can see your point about the implication of complicity, though it was not at all what we intended. We know that what happened was absolutely not an exchange in which the women are in any way complicit; it was extortion and sexual assault. Period. It is challenging to convey the sort of nuance and complexity that our writers regularly deliver in the length of a subject line, and to do it in a way that makes people pay attention enough to open and read, which is our obligation to our writers. Perhaps we were too caught up in the indignity and wanting everyone to pay attention to this important piece on it that we didn't realize that anyone would read it that way. I realize that that is ironic given the content of the post, which is all about how our assumptions and misperceptions of women in public housing are what let these assaults be overlooked for so long. --Miriam Axel-Lute

Read the full post and discussion here.

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President & CEO

Leading this complex, critical community asset requires an executive with strong professional competencies in financial and team management, resource, policy and organizational development, and program development and evaluation. Candidates for this role will . . . Read Full Listing

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Under general direction, the Senior Manager position is responsible for performing professional level work to manage programs created to build assets in Latino communities across the country. We will rely on you to focus on building equitable neighborhoods through programs that support . . . Read Full Listing

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Some have suggested that this position should be seen as more of a "calling" for the right person as opposed to a job. The successful candidate will have training, education, and experience that will demonstrate the ability to . . . Read Full Listing

Director of Business Development

The Director of Business Development will play a key role in shaping the future of the Community Purchasing Alliance. Working closely with the ED and Board, the opportunity is to bring CPA across the threshold of becoming a financially self-sustaining social-purpose cooperative . . . Read Full Listing

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The Deputy Executive Director is responsible for supporting the Executive Director in providing leadership, direction and management, inspiring and holding the vision for the comprehensive mission of the organization to end homelessness . . .
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Editorial Position

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