Building Sustainable Communities: Integrated Services and Improved Financial Outcomes for Low-Income Households

After decades of investing in blighted communities across the country, Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) knows that healthy neighborhoods rest as much on whether residents can earn a decent wage and build financial security as they do on good housing, strong schools and vibrant businesses. As part of our comprehensive strategy, LISC is tackling this pressing need through an expansive network of Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) in dozens of communities nationwide. FOCs help clients find and maintain good jobs, stick to realistic budgets, improve their credit and save for the future. And they are located in the same neighborhoods where LISC is investing in housing and health, reducing crime, strengthening schools and re-energizing commercial corridors.The research shows a direct relationship between the number and type of services accessed and the FOC clients' ability to grow their earnings and secure their finances. For instance, those who spent the most time on all three bundled services offered by the FOCs (employment, coaching and public benefits) had the highest job placement rates and the highest job retention rates -- a 74 percent placement rate and a 78 percent six-month retention rate. Clients who received both financial counseling and employment services had net income increases that were 89 percent higher than those receiving only financial or income support counseling.We also learned that:* 76 percent of clients increased their net income.* More than half increased their net worth.* 60 percent either increased their credit score or acquired a credit score.* 58 percent of those who started with zero or negative net income moved to positive net income

IWS Issue Brief - The Good, the Bad, and Wal-Mart

Today, the nation’s largest company and number one employer would have Americans believe that its interests are synonymous with the public interest. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a retailing behemoth with more than 3,700 locations in the U.S., 1.2 million employees, and annual domestic sales of $228 billion stands as consumers’ best friend. With unparalleled purchasing power and marketplace heft, Wal-Mart prides itself on driving down costs all the way through the smallest supplier to ensure the lowest prices on everything from electronics to clothing to house wares to edibles. Wal-Mart also takes credit for stimulating economic development, creating jobs, and filling local coffers with sales and property tax revenues through decisions to locate stores in rural communities, small cities and suburbs, and struggling urban neighborhoods. But there’s a contrary view gaining currency across the land; that is, what’s good for Wal-Mart is bad for America. Skepticism about Wal-Mart ranges from concern about low wages and suspect workplace practices to perceived threats to the ongoing viability of communities’ social and economic infrastructure once the big box store comes to town

Neighborhood Poverty and Household Financial Security

In a previous study, The Pew Charitable Trusts examined the effects of neighborhood context on American families' economic mobility. That analysis found that neighborhood poverty is associated with downward mobility, reinforcing other research that has shown a link between high-poverty neighborhoods and unemployment, poorer performing schools, and increased violence, all of which pose risks to residents' economic security.This chartbook draws on data from the Survey of American Family Finances, commissioned by Pew in November 2014, to illustrate the health of family balance sheets in high- and low-poverty communities across the United States and to examine how neighborhood context influences people's attitudes toward the economy

Community Stabilization Case Studies: Showcasing Innovative Strategies in the NeighborWorks America Network

This report highlights the work of eight organizations, members of the NeighborWorks® America network, that are using innovative and promising strategies to accomplish community stabilization goals. All demonstrate success in using a patchwork of local, state and federal resources. These case studies demonstrate that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to community stabilization. However, reliable funding, strong partnerships and deliberate community engagement prove to be essential components of success. Their responses have been shaped by a range of factors, including the strengths and the experience of their individual organizations, the condition of local housing markets, the presence of community assets on which to build and the dictates of available funding sources

Health Equity The Path to Inclusive Prosperity in Buffalo

With billions in public and private investments in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and Governor Cuomo’s historic “Buffalo Billion” investment in economic development, the city of Buffalo is poised for resurgence. Yet persistent racial inequities in health, wealth, and economic opportunity inhibit the city’s growth. Without a change in course, these inequities will take a heavy toll on the city as immigrants and communities of color grow as a share of its population and workforce. Equity—just and fair inclusion—is the key to sustainable economic recovery and growth in the Queen City. To build a Buffalo economy that works for all, city and regional leaders must commit to putting all residents on the path to good health and economic security, through protections and policies that enable existing residents to stay in the city and connect to jobs and opportunities, and ensure that they benefit from new development

Equitable Development: The Path to an All-In Pittsburgh

Now is Pittsburgh's moment for equitable development, and its leaders must commit to implementing the recommendations in this report and ensuring everyone is a part of the new Pittsburgh. As this report illustrates, there are viable strategies that leaders in government, business, community development, and philanthropy can undertake to address racial inequities and put all residents on track to reaching their potential, starting with baking equity in to its new development projects and reaching across its institutional landscape and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Just as Pittsburgh has embraced its identity as a tech-forward region, it should—and can—be a frontrunner on equitable development

Embedded Foundations: Advancing Community Change and Empowerment

· Embedded funders are foundations that have made long-term commitments to the communities in which they are located or work. · Foundations have a long history in funding community development, often with few concrete results. · Political conditions, the increasing divide between rich and poor, inaccessibility of education, lack of housing, and continued segregation and racial discrimination are issues that need be addressed concurrently and resources need to be drawn from a variety of sources, particularly the neighborhoods themselves. This complexity has created an impetus for embedded philanthropy. · Embedded funders work participatively with the community and frame evaluations in less theoretical, more actionable ways. · While the future of embedded philanthropy remains to be seen, there is now a group of funders committed to this way of working