Issue #139, January/February 2005

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The Fannie Mae Foundation has published “Revitalizing Commerce for American Cities: A Practitioner’s Guide to Urban Main Street Programs,” by Karl F. Seidman. It builds on the Main Street model of urban renewal that emphasizes design, organization, promotional activities and economic restructuring as key elements of a commercial makeover, and advises how to improve public safety and obtain services from city governments. The report is available at www.fanniemaefoundation.org.

“Winning at the Local Level: 5 Housing Trust Fund Campaigns Tell Their Stories,” published by the Center for Community Change Housing Trust Fund Project, documents the steps, rationales, obstacles and victories involved in the housing trust campaigns in Columbus, OH; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO; Los Angeles, CA; and Washington, DC. www.communitychange.org.

Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association released “Meeting Local Housing Needs: A Practice Guide for Implementing Selection Preferences and Civil Rights Requirements in Affordable Housing Programs.” The guide concentrates on eligibility requirements for housing programs, selection preferences based on affordable housing program requirements, fair housing principles and civil rights standards and the combination of civil rights knowledge with selection preferences, particularly in favor of local residents. www.chapa.org.

PolicyLink and Pratt Institute released “Increasing Housing Opportunity in New York City: The Case for Inclusionary Zoning.” The report outlines affordable housing issues in New York City and cites inclusionary zoning as a possible solution.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors released its annual survey on hunger and homelessness. The survey of 27 cities shows an increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness. It also found that in 56 percent of reporting cities, homeless families may have to break up in order to find shelter, and 32 percent of requests for assistance for families were not met. (PDF)

The national report, “Working Hard, Falling Short: America’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security,” published as part of the Working Poor Families Project, is available from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. (PDF)

The National Council of La Raza released a new report, “Financial Education in Latino Communities: An Analysis of Programs, Products, and Results/Effects,” that finds that the U.S. financial industry has failed to connect with Hispanics and many low-income families via financial education products and services. For more information or a copy, go to www.nclr.org.

AWARDS
New Voices is seeking new ideas for distributing information to micro-local geographic communities and is funding the startup of 20 micro-local news ventures. Funding is available for print or electronic news initiatives, including online, cable, broadcast, narrowcast, satellite and mobile efforts. Deadline: March 17. www.j-newvoices.org.

The Open Society Institute’s Community Fellowships Program supports individuals who are creating innovative public interest projects that address critical social issues. Applicants may come from any field and be in later stages of their professional career or recent graduates. Deadline: April 15. The fellowships program will host proposal workshops to assist applicants beginning in February.

The Stanford Center for Social Innovation and Amazon.com will award $1 million to a nonprofit organization whose innovative approach most effectively improves its community or the world at large. Deadline: April 28. www.amazon.com and click “giving at amazon.com” near the bottom right corner of the screen or e-mail.

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