Communities Revisited: The Best Ideas of the
Last Hundred Years. by Suzanne Morse
Two important terms discussed in this article
are prevention and sustainability. When working with communities, it is
important to begin with initiatives that prevent problems versus making
solutions for problems once they occur. Sustainability refers to programs that
continue to address the issue over the course of time versus for a short period
of time.
This article focuses on three ideas that have
made a difference and stood the test of time. Those three ideas include the
following:
·
creation and expansion of community
development corporations (and their intermediaries)
·
the practice of asset-based community
development
·
vehicles to provide affordable capital
These three ideas include the essential
elements of any change strategy, which are a structure for change, a vision for
change, and a strategy for change.
According to this article, in order to
continue improving communities we must do the following steps:
·
Continue to invest in understanding what
works and what actions are needed.
·
Engage the public at a deeper level in
deliberating about the choices and possibilities before us
·
Match policy and funding to the outcomes of
the first two.
In the future, a successful community will be
one that can pull together and utilize the tools and resources to improve its
own situation.
It is my opinion that this article provides
the guidelines for any community leaders trying to improve their community.
After reading this article, I wonder what other ideas are important to consider
when working with communities. Considering how important capital is, I also
wonder what is being done to make obtaining home loans and rehab loans
accessible for low income residents. As a community leader, do you think these
ideas are the most important to consider when working with communities? If so
why? If not why?
Difficulty obtaining home repair loans is very real problem in JVL. Unfortunately the combination of home values being low and residents not having savings/capital in the homes has lead to a lot of people not qualifing for home repair loans. In my interview with Sal Martinez he said that his organization's home repair program isn't successful either because in order to qualify for a 25,000 grant for home repairs they have to fix ALL the code violations in a home which costs double or triple the grant amount. This makes rehabbing houses not a viable option and why new developments/building new houses the more cost efficent option. I'm wondering if there was a good buyout program where people could sell their homes and then use that capital to buy into the new affordable housing options so that they can remain in their community. I'm learning this is a really difficult/sticky situation.
ReplyDeleteI feel it is important to understand what will work within the community and to engage the public deeper. Communities are made up so many different people but when people feel they are not being heard I feel like it can be frustrting and overwhelming for the members. So being an effective listener to what really needed and being the advocate for those whose voices are not being heard is imperative to change. Sometimes the advocate can initiate the public to really research and focus on the needed change. This was a good read and I am not sure what is being done to make home loans more accessible. I feel like access to home loans across the board is more difficult now then it was before 2008. I have no idea how we will move out of that slumo either but I do think we are moving in a good direction.
ReplyDeleteMoney is critical. The development of a buyout program is a good idea, but people need low cost housing. I wonder if there are any programs where the community develops a way to tear down and rebuild each other's homes, perhaps using a vacant/foreclosed home as a way to house a family during this process. Time to read what has already been done here in St. Louis. Cheri
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