Following the Money: An Analysis of Foundation Grantmaking for Community and Economic Development

The article challenges the perception among some in the field of community and economic development that small and socioeconomically distressed metro areas do not attract a proportional share of grant capital from the nation’s largest foundations. The analysis presented in this article reviewed nearly 169,000 community and economic development grants made by the largest foundations between 2008 and 2013 to identify metro- area characteristics that are associated with higher levels of grant receipt. The density of nonprofit organizations and the presence of large, local foundations are shown to be consistently significant predictors of grant receipt. After controlling for these and other factors, the analysis indicates that, compared with smaller metro areas, more populous ones receive a greater level of grant capital from the largest foundations. Contrary to expectations, the same is true for places with higher poverty rates

Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009: The Forgotten Victims of SubPrime Crisis

This study found that there are many interrelated consequences of the economic downturn that lead to both home foreclosure and to homelessness. There is an increased need for affordable housing, as well as targeted legal assistance, health care, living-wage jobs, income supports, access to education, civil rights protections and the various supports that will continue to be needed as a result of the recession.John Parvensky, Board of Directors President for the National Coalition for the Homeless and Executive Director of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless states, "This report underscores the fact that we as a nation need to strengthen our efforts to prevent homelessness resulting from this economic crisis, while creating sufficient new affordable rental housing to ensure that no family in America has to experience the tragedy of homelessness."In a national survey of homeless service and advocacy agencies conducted by the these groups, 79 percent of respondents stated that at least some of their clients were homeless as a result of foreclosure, and about half estimated that more than ten percent of their clients were homeless because of foreclosure on a home they had been occupying. During 2008, RealtyTrac reported 3,157,806 foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, an 81 percent jump from 2007 and a 225 percent increase from 2006."We are one step away from foreclosure. More and more families and children are affected by job loss and the economy. 'Getting back on your feet' is next to impossible in today's society. The public needs to be made aware of who is becoming homeless... and that they could be next - just like any average family," an individual respondent to the national survey from North Carolina reported

December 2013Residential Migration, Entry, and Exit as Seen Through the Lens of Credit Bureau Data

Summary: We analyze a large, nationally representative anonymized data set of consumers with a credit report from 2002 to 2010. This is a period that encompasses a boom and bust in consumer credit. Using census data, we classify consumers into four categories of relative neighborhood income and find that, over time, the number and proportion of consumers with a credit report fell in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and rose in higher-income neighborhoods. Population trends evident from census data explain only a portion of these changes in the location of the credit bureau population. In most instances, the primary driver reflects residential migration from relatively poorer neighborhoods to ones with relatively higher incomes. Patterns of entry into or exit from the credit bureau population were correlated with the credit cycle, as well as with relative neighborhood income, resulting in slower sample growth in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods during periods of credit contraction. These results are interesting in themselves, but they are also important for interpreting empirical results estimated from credit bureau data

JEL Classification Numbers: Residential Migration, Entry, and Exit as Seen Through the Lens of Credit Bureau Data

the data. Any remaining errors should be attributed to the authors. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia or the Federal Reserve System. No statements in this paper should be treated as legal advice. This paper is available free of charge at www.philadelphiafed.org/payment-cards-center/publications/discussion-papers/. Keywords