Family Support and Community Economic Development

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 416 969 PS 026 213

AUTHOR Lalley, Jacqueline, Ed. TITLE Family Support and Community Economic Development. INSTITUTION Family Resource Coalition, Chicago, IL.; National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, Iowa City, IA. SPONS AGENCY Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Washington, DC. Children's Bureau.; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ. PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 49p. CONTRACT 90-CW-1084/01 AVAILABLE FROM Family Resource Coalition, 20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60606; phone: 312-338-0900; fax: 312-338-1522; e-mail: [email protected] PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT Family Resource Coalition of America Report; v16 n3 Fall 1997 EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Community Action; Community Change; *Community Development; *Community Resources; Economic Change; *Economic Development; Economic Impact; Family Needs; *Family Programs; *Family (Sociological Unit); Quality of Life; Welfare Services IDENTIFIERS Community Empowerment; *Community Resource Development; *Family Support

ABSTRACT This report of the Family Resource Coalition of America examines the interrelationship of sustainable community economic strategies and sustainable family units. The introductory section of the report consists of one article, "Integrating Community Development and Family Support." The second section, "Community Building: A Movement is Afoot," consists of five articles addressing community rebuilding, community building theories, community building practice, and building on Chicago's West Side. The third section, "Supporting Families from Welfare to Work," contains six articles describing new ways of working, California family economic security programs, job training, the Cleveland Works program, and microenterprises. The fourth section, "Community-Based Strategies for Financing," consists of five articles addressing the concept of time dollars, community-based financing, grassroots loans, youth credit union, and partners in community-based lending. The fifth section, "Building Rural Economy and Community," contains two articles describing a skill and value education program on a farm, and the "MIHOW" (Maternal and Infant Health Outreach Workers) program. The sixth section, "Housing-Based Strategies," contains three articles discussing housing-based community development and presenting case studies of the Omaha Housing Authority the Fremont County (Colorado) Family Center. The seventh section, "Federal Innovations," consists of one article describing Federal Economic Development Initiatives. The report includes a program survey and resource file. (SD) INF

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) .4.), This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization FALL 1997 Volume 16, Number 3 originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent Family Support and official OERI position or policy. .Community Economic Development

isvaitort& lA AL_

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY FAMILY P. Q_ckf\R._ RESOURCE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES BEST COPY AVAILABLE COALITION INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) OF AMERICA 2 r si National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice FRCA thanks the many people who generously shared their Children, Youth, and Families, Children's Bureaucooperative ideas and experiences to create this far-reaching resource agreement number 90-CW-1084/01 under contract with the on community economic development and family support. University of Iowa School of Social Work. The contents of this Program staff, policymakers, researchers, parents, and other inno- publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the vators across the nation were willing to be interviewed and wrote funders, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial prod- articles themselves so that readers in these two ever-merging ucts, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Department fields could benefit from the lessons they have learned and are of Health and Human Services. learning. This Report would not exist without their efforts. Preparation of this issue of FRCA Report also was assisted by a This Report was produced in part by the National Resource grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, New Center for Family Centered Practice, funded by the U.S. Jersey), sponsor of the STATES (State Technical Assistance and Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Training for Effective Systems) Initiative of FRCA.

Cover Photo 1968; community members take part in the walk to demonstrate Focus: Hope, a Detroit community economic development initia- their commitment to interracial harmony. Focus: Hope was found- tive, has been holding its eight-mile Walk for Justice every year since ed to undertake "intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty, and injustice, and to build a metropolitan community." Today, with government, corporate, and foundation support, Focus: Hope employs more than 850 people and involves more than 47,000 volunteers, contributors, and participants. It operates for - profit manufacturing companies that provide training and employment (pictured here), and also links with universities to provide training and education. Focus: Hope's preschool provides quality education and care for the children of participants. This photo and others are part of a nationwide photo exhibit tour and public education campaign, Pursuing the Dream: What Helps Children and Their Families Succeed.The campaign began this fall with publication of a photo book that shows community-based programs in action, and is a collaboration among FRCA, award-winning photographer Stephen Shames, and Aperture Foundation. For information on how to get involved or bring the exhibit to your community, contact FRCA.

FRCAREPORT Executive DirectorVIRGINIA L MASON Family Resource Coalition of America is a membership, consulting, Associate Executive Director/Communications, and advocacy organization that has been advancing the movement to strengthen and support families since 1981 .The family support Publications, and Marketing, KATHY GOb I Z WOLF movement and FRCA seek to strengthen and empower families Editor, JACQUELINE LALLEY and communities so that they can foster the optimal development Consulting Editors, ANTHONY WILLIAMS and of children, youth, and adult family members. FRCA builds networks, produces resources, advocates for public policy, provides consulting MARK McDANIEL services, and gathers knowledge to help the family support move- Cover Photo, STEPHEN SHAMES ment grow. For information or to become a member, contact Art Director LYNN PEARSON FRCA at 20 N.Wacker Drive, Suite1 100, Chicago, IL 60606, 312/338-0900 (phone) 312/338-1522 (fax), [email protected] (e-mail). Editorial Assistant, DANIELLE JONES Reporter KELLY POWNALL-MORAN Printer BOOKLET PUBLISHING BEST COPYAVAILABLE

he opinions expressed in the FRCA Report are those of the authors; the Report strives to include a variety of perspectives from the familysupport field.

The FRCA Report is published quarterly in the public interest by the Family Resource Coalition of America,a tax-exempt. nonprofit organization. Membership in -.tie Coalition includes a subscription to the FRCA Report. Readers are encouraged to copy and share its content;we ask you to credit the Family Resource Cookie-, of America as the original source of information. In This Issue Increasing numbers of family support programs of these professionals are seeking ways to work FRCA's new partnerships with national nationwide are working to assist families and in a more holistic, family-supportive way. organizations with expertise in community communities in becoming economically stable This Report is one of many steps in FRCA's building and community economic development and self-sufficient And professionals in community long-term plan to bring the lessons of community will result in resources that blur the formerly rigid economic development are combining their economic development into the service system lines between community economic efforts with family support. Professionals in these reform and family support movements.These development and family supportThe resulting fields, and community members themselves, principles, strategies, history, and philosophies coalitions will strengthen FRCA's ability to assist know firsthand that no single strategy can offer tremendous potential for realizing the family local programs, government agencies, and others respond sufficiently to the wide range of needs support vision, particularly in improving physical with strategies to help families and communities of children, families, and communities. and economic conditions for families and access economic opportunity. Still, many family support programs are new to communities. FRCA is beginning a major effort to welfare-to-work and economic development institutionalize the notion that disinvested Mark McDaniel activities, and are asking what they can do to help communities cannot transform themselves unless Community Economic Development Specialist families and communities achieve stability and professionals in economic development and FRCA self-sufficiency. And family support services in the family support and local residents work together economic development arena still are rare; many toward a common vision. Contents Introduction to the Issue Home-Made Currency Strengthens Community 12 Integrating Community Development and Family Support 4 Paul Glover Kirk E. Harris Grassroots Loans Meet the Need for Credit 15 Laura Benedict and Pei-Yuan Chung Community Building:A Movement Is Afoot Dollars for Dreams: Questions and Answers from a Success Story in the Works....8 Youths Make Their Own Credit Union 16 Malcolm Bush Geni Abrams and Joel Cisne Community Rebuilding: Something Important Is Happening 27 Nonprofits and Credit Unions: Lisbeth Schorr Partners in Community-Based Lending 17 Leni Hochman Different Approaches to Community Building: A Brief Summary of Theories 43 Building Rural Economy and Community Joan Walsh Agri Kids:Youths Learn Skills and Values on a Farm 24 A National Organization Puts Community Building William Green into Practice 44 MIHOW: Community Members Become Community Building in Action on Chicago's West Side 45 Outreach Workers 32 Judy Matthews-Taylor, Barbara Clinton, and Carole Manny Supporting Families from Welfare to Work A Practitioner Shares Bold New Ways of Working 6 Housing-Based Strategies Connie Busse Omaha Housing Authority: Strengthen the Whole Family, Build the Whole Community 39 Supporting Families Toward Economic Security: Joyce Beasley California Programs Show by Example 18 Enterprise Foundation:A Nationwide Effort in Job Skills Aren't Enough 30 Housing-Based Community Development 41 John F Else Fremont County Family Center: Highland Food Cooperative: Planning and Collaboration Fuel Success 42 Family Support Includes Groceries and Job Training 34 Katherine Bair A Model of Welfare-to-Work Success: Cleveland Works 35 Federal Innovations Anthony Williams Family Support Is Part of Federal Economic Development Initiatives 22 Microenterprises Foster Economic Empowerment in Ann Rosewater Low-Income Families and Communities 37 Salome Raheim Survey Build the Community Economic Community-Based Strategies for Financing Development Knowledge Base 19 Time Dollars:The Currency of Community Building 10 Resource File 46 Edgar S. Cahn

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL. 16, NO. 3 3 4 Integrating Community !Development and Family Support The Practice, the Challenge, the Possibilities

by Kirk E. Harris

corporate boardroom, where decision making is inordinately focused on profit and little attention is paid to the stability of families. Workers today are working more hours for relatively less pay than they were 30 years ago. The proliferation of low- wage, temporary employment without benefits has increased employment insta- bility among families dramatically, and ,ts low-income families have been particular- OPEI ly hard-hit. t1.05E0 5 vs me7, The need to work harder and longer for RMAY relatively less income has had a decidedly aAluR16-14 negative impact on families and communities, and has compromised the quality of public and private life significantly. People have little time to devote to their families and little or no time to devote to civic :1 engagement. This greatly challenges the sustainability of family and community I life. If individuals are unable to make per sonal and social investments in their fami- e;s lies and communities, investments of capi- K2_ o tal to support community development efforts will be futile. Marshall Heights Community Development Organization in Washington, D.C., covers a whole ward of the city. It owns 40 percent of a shopping area and uses the profits to run a small business incubator with a loan fund to help small start-up businesses. Michael Morton (left), Manager, Business Development Services talks Social Welfare Policy to Archie Alston, a small businessman who owns Alston Sea Food, a popular take-out restaurant. MHCDO Recent changes in social welfare policy has helped him expand his business by offering technical assistance and a loan. are demonstrating strong effects on fami- practitioners of com- a challenging one. Changes in the econom- lies, and thus have critical relevance to the Whilemunity economic develop- ic environment, welfare policy, and avail- sustainability of communities. The Federal ment often lament the dif- able community resources increasingly Personal Responsibility and Work ficulty of achieving sustainable project require families to defy the odds if they are Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWO- outcomes given the forces that often work to realize a healthy and sustainable exis- RA) of 1996 has abolished the guaranteed to destabilize communities, an element thattence. We must ensure that our community income supports for low-income families gets only passing, if any, attention in their economic development strategies both are formerly provided by Aid to Families with discussions is the very infrastructure upon supportive of families and respond to the Dependent Children (AFDC). It also elim- which sustainable community economic economic inequality, racism, and class-bias inated the Job Opportunities and Basic strategies must rest: sustainable family that are undermining family and communi- Skills (JOBS) training programwhich units. Conversely, family support practi- ty integrity. And our strategies must spring provided basic education, skills training, tioners often ignore issues related to the from the knowledge that parents' ability to and work opportunities to low-income economic and physical infrastructure of support their children and their communi- familiesand the Emergency Assistance communities, going about their work as ties is as dependent on governmental and to Families with Children program, which if they could adequately address the crises corporate decision making as on parents' provided emergency help to families with and/or needs of families in the absence will and commitment. children for up to one month per year. of a transformation of the economic These programs have been replaced by and physical conditions under which Economic Trends and Families Temporary Assistance for Needy Families families live. (TANF) but at a considerably lower level Family and community stability is great- of funding, which states receive as block The hope of enhancing family life and ly affected by the globalization of the increasing the stability of family units is grants to be used as they deem appropriate. economy and choices that are made in the 5

4 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 BEST COPYAVAILABLE TANF potentially challenges the sustainability of low-income families in the following ways: Within two years of receiving aid, every individual must be participating in work- related activities. Generally, education and/or training activities do not satisfy this requirement. Interestingly, while TANF does not require states to increase the number of jobs available to low-income individuals, people who fail to meet the work requirement risk loss of public assistance including Medicare. Childcare assistance is no longer guaranteed to parents who require it in order to participate in work or training. Parents of newborns enrolled in school or in a training program must return to work when the newborn reaches 12 weeks old. Individuals are eligible to receive public assistance for only five years throughout their lives, irrespective of the availability of jobs that pay a "living wage." Food stamps will be cut by $28 billion over six years, and more than half of this cut will be absorbed by families with incomes less than half of a poverty-line income. Food subsidies for the unemployed, the childless poor, and the nondis- abled poor between the ages of 18 and 50 are restricted to three months in any 36- month period. Approximately 300,000 children who are classified as disabled under Supplemental vital part of the public debate. It is not If physical and economic development Security Income (SSI) or who receive sufficient, and could even be destructive is the hardware that defines the set of Medicaid will become ineligible for to continue working under the conditions opportunities within a community, the these benefits. imposed by this contradiction without social service and family support activities According to the Urban Institute, these offering a strident critique of it. The risk are the software that makes it run. Thus, reforms will push more than 2.6 million is that if family support and community the challenge is to find ways to form people, including 1.1 million children, into development practitioners accommodate strategic alliances that will foster the poverty. the contradiction in order to carry on with creation of a more holistic vision of com- Additionally, PRWORA compartmental- their work as best they can, government munity and encourage comprehensive izes supports for individual members of and large corporations will be insulated responses to community needs that are the family in a way that may undermine from the consequences of their policies, unrestricted by disciplinary boundaries the mutuality of support and interdepen- giving them the opportunity to rationalize and narrow funding prerogatives. Family dence within families. For example, it away destructive forces at work on fami- support practitioners and community eco- extends supports and services to mothers lies that they have in large part created nomic development practitioners should and children that it denies to needy men or maintain. join forces to become stronger and more who are often the fathers of children united advocates for the community and receiving public assistance and who would Community Resources for each other. be in a better position to financially and The work of community economic devel- emotionally provide for their children if opment and family support practitioners is Kirk Harris, J.D., Ph.D., former Director of they were to receive support. mutually reinforcing, but practitioners the Center for Fathers, Families, and Public Policy, has joined the staff of FRCA as Senior We are confronted with a genuine contra-often do not see it that way, and founda- Policy Advisor and General Counsel. diction. On the one hand, our social policy tions do not fund it that way. The dichoto- and economic structures compromise the my of physical and economic development integrity of families and communities, and versus social service provision and family on the other hand there is a social mandate support has created artificial disciplinary for individuals to be more responsible and boundaries and competition for resources self-reliant and for communities to be morethat undermine the strengths that each self-sustaining. Community development group of practitioners brings to the effort and family support practitioners must rec- of building sustainable communities. ognize this contradiction and make it a BEST COPY AVAILABLE

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 5 a Welfare Reform Calls forBold New Ways of Working withFamilies

by Connie Busse

fter much talk and anticipation, welfare reform is upon us. There s no doubt that we will face difficult times ahead. As family support workers, we often witness the struggle of working poor families. We know that these families sometimes work miracles, surviv- ing on very small budgets. Many of the children of these families have inadequate health care, stay home alone because their parents cannot afford childcare, and too often go to school hungry. Under the reforms these families and their children will suffer, and it will be difficult for the workers concerned with their well-being to see their pain. Ultimately, the work of responding to theneeds of families and children must embrace all groups and individuals, but this work can begin with the field of family support. The Role of Family Resource Centers Through Cooperative Home Care Associates, in New York, N.Y, Ana Cuevas provides home care daily for an It will not be business as usual for family infant born with multiple defects. The program employs more than 300 African American and Latina women, resource centers in most areas. The volume creating high quality para-professional jobs while empowering low-income women with greater skills. Ana, of clients may increase so much that staff who was on welfare and worked as a secretary, came to CHC in 1993. She was elected to the CHC board of and program restructuring will be neces- directors in 1995. "Before I felt my life was all it could be. Now, 1 don't believe anything is standing in my sary. Some of the reforms may have impli- way. I know I can do anything." cations we cannot even anticipate. Details learn how to navigate the new system so ments or agencies may feel pressure to get about eligibility standards, benefit levels, that they may devise strategies to get them-people into a jobany job. We will need and numerous other items of information selves out of it as quickly and as perma- to remind ourselves and others that entry we pass on to families will change. What nently as possible. This will require family level employment for public aid recipients will perhaps most transform our work will resource centers to engage in longer-range is not a panacea, and that particularly for be the enormous shifts in a number of soci- planning than is currently the norm in those who have little work experience and etal relationships that will accompany wel- work with benefit recipients. Recipients are low-skilled, simply being employed fare reform, including those of the impov- will no longer want to apply for benefits will not translate into independence from erished to their government, immigrants to and then figure out what path to follow, butpublic assistance. This is something that as this country, and family workers to their rather will need to keep an eye on their family support workers accustomed to clients, to name a few. time limits and use the period in which looking at the interrelated needs of family Issues such as domestic violence, disabil- they are receiving benefits to best prepare members we can and must contribute to ity, substance abuse, and unsafe living to support themselves and their depen- the dialogue on welfare-to-work. environments used to qualify many fami- dents. To be most useful to them, then, Another change that has resulted from lies to receive public assistance. Now, family support workers will need to work welfare reform is that collaborations and many families who are facing these issues with them to formulate strategies and real- partnerships have become absolute necessi- and temporarily are unable to support istic time lines. ties. Those of us who work in family themselves cannot receive cash assistance. For many of us, such strategizing is a resource centers have a good deal of expe- Thus there is even more pressure on family new way of relating to families. It requires rience with co-location of services and var- resource centers now to assist these fami- that we focus on long-term solutions that ious levels of collaboration. We can edu- lies quickly in building on their strengths, will keep people from having to reenter thecate others, and we can also take a second for they have lost their economic safety public benefit system. It is important to look at out own work. Are there other pro- net. keep this in mind as we respond to state jects or programs we could handle collabo- requirements to move people into work. ratively? This is a good time to look A New Way of Working Family workers in county-funded depart- around our communities to gather ideas, Recipients of public benefits will need to

7 BEST COPY AVAILAB. 6 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 identifying agencies that provide different Coalition of America in Chicago are in a poverty-stricken areas. These organizations services to our constituencies: these are unique position to examine current deliv- possess many strengths and considerable the ones with which partnerships may ery systems and design strategies to broad- potential to expand their current efforts. be possible. en and deepen their reach to the families in They could fill part of the vacuum created need of services, particularly those living by welfare reform by forming local net- Employment Development in poor neighborhoods. Such organizations works and working together to realign and Perhaps the aspect of welfare reform may also be able to collect data about pro- reconfigure existing resources, assisting in that will most affect family resource grams and the populations they serve and community-wide planning efforts that draw centers is the thrust towards employment invest in research, evaluation, and staff on a community's strengths and abilities. for all clients. Welfare-to-work, clearly development. They can promote diversity Such networks should embrace an inclu- the foundation of the new legislation, in program design and encourage family sive approach, working closely with fami- creates extraordinary demands to find involvement in organizational governance lies and enlisting the participation of new employment for thousands of current and decision making at both the local and and emerging organizations. welfare recipients. If the reforms are to national levels. National organizations may work, our responseand the responses also be able to influence funders and local Schools of all segments of societywill have to policy in ways that smaller, community- Schools too could play a role in meeting be even more extraordinary. based organizations cannot. the challenges posed by welfare reform by There is a growing recognition in the opening their doors to community residents family support field that employment ser- EmployersLarge and Small and organizations. They could offer services must be part of our repertoire. Some Unemployment rates tell us that currently vices not only to their students but to fami- Bay Area family support centers have tens of thousands of people are looking for lies and the community in general, encour- begun to devise employment development work in California. As we prepare to force aging the active participation of parents strategies. Many of these effortsinclud- into that pool of job-seekers thousands and the formation of partnerships among ing a demonstration project being prepared more, the creation and expansion of jobs teachers, parents, students, neighbors, and by the Greater Bay Area Family Resource suitable for former welfare recipients is public and private agencies. Networkare at the nascent stage, but as becoming a pressing challenge. Businesses they are implemented and tracked, they large and small will play critical roles in Educating the Family Support should inform the field on how linkages meeting this challenge. Community can be made within family support centers Small businesses collectively employ In the coming months (and years), staff and how bridges can be built between the more people than any other sector of the developmentboth training and support social service and employment worlds. economy, but for a variety of reasons, will be critical for everyone in the family While social service providers traditionally small business owners are not always able support community. Training will need to have not worked closely with employment to offer jobs that can support families. As be two-pronged: first, people must be programs (even though they serve the samethe largest sector of the economy, small brought up-to-date on eligibility standards, population), such bridges must be built if business clearly has the potential to con- benefit levels, time limits, starting dates, we are to serve families successfully with- tribute greatly to providing jobs to former and so on; and second, they must be in the framework of the new reforms. It welfare recipients, but it will take some trained how to work within the new stan- makes sense to consolidate core and relat- work to figure out how this is to be done. dards. Family workers who simply try to ed services within a single agency by Perhaps by banding together small busi- "plug in" the new requirements to the old adding employment services to those pro- nesses could offer better benefits, and per- way of working will not be effective. We, vided at family resource centers: the other haps they could adopt employment policies the family support community, must do our services can complement an employment more supportive to families. Large best to address this. Training, of course, program and therefore advance job place- employers, too, need to step up to the task. will be most needed precisely when no one ment and retention by addressing indirect They have more resources with which to has time to devote to it, but we cannot be obstacles to employment. help, and there are a number of things they useful to families if we do not take the can do, including adopting hiring policies time to educate ourselves. The Role of Other which target benefit recipients, implement- Organizations ing mentorship or on-the-job training pro- Family resource centers, however, are grams, and creating "job hot lines." This article was adapted with permission from Those of us who do not control many the Greater Bay Area Family Resource not the only organizations which must Network. address the new welfare-to-work require- jobs need to speak or write to the people ments. Those of us in the field of family who do. Again, making welfare reform work will depend on us all. Connie Busse is Director of the Greater Bay support and in the broader field of social Area Family Resource Network, 450 Mission services can take the lead in formulating Street, Suite 405, San Francisco, CA 94105, programs and policies that respond to the Local Community 415/247-6555 (phone), 415/247-6559 (fax). needs of families, but ultimately other seg- Organizations ments of society must also take up the Many community organizationsinclud- work to be done. ing grassroots agencies, religious institutions, service clubs, business groups, National Organizations neighborhood associations, and other inde- Because of their extensive resources and pendent organizationsoffer an array of scope, national family support organiza- services, but research indicates that they BEST COPY AVAILABLE tions such as the Family Resource do not always reach families in our most

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997 VOL. 16, NO. 3 7 8 How to Strengthen Your Community's Economy A Day Care Center Triggers the Redevelopment of Its Neighborhood by Malcolm Bush

Imagine a brand new, custom-designed childcare center in an otherwise decaying neighborhood. The center is a brightly colored steel and glass construction with natural light pouring into classrooms and a large activity room, which at night doubles as an adult classroom and community meeting room. The community is the Longview neighborhood in Decatur, Illinois, 186 miles south of Chicago, where the New Horizon Family and Child Development Center was opened in April 1994. The building is the first physical improvement in the neighborhood in 20 years. New Horizon is more than a successful and attractive day care center. Parents whose children are enrolled there can get job training or re-enter the work force, secure in the knowledge that their children are in good hands. The childcare center is the first step, and the catalyst, of an ambitious plan to rebuild an eight-by-tenblock neighborhood characterized by empty lots, an illicit drug market, a high percentage of elderly residents and single-parent families, and sub- standard rental housing owned by absentee r landlords who provide limited repairs and few services. Since the center opened it has suffered Atnr--y neither graffiti nor break-ins. The capital 0 o' improvement represented by the center is expected to spill over to the surrounding t area, thanks to a community renewal plan that responds to opportunities for new housing, improved education, and access to jobs and services for seniors. This city-county- community plan calls for demolition of the worst housing; the goods and services like groceries, hardware, and dry cleaning, par- construction of new in-fill housing; a citizen's center; a satellite ents can spend more time with their families, rather than traveling campus of the local community college to provide adult remedial, to meet their families' needs, and more jobs are available for peo- basic, and vocational education; a two-block commercial park to ple who cannot commute, such as high school students, part-time bring jobs to the neighborhood; and a magnet elementary school.' workers, and older workers. An attractive neighborhood entices a mix of familieslower- Why Get Involved in Economic Development? and middle-incometo buy or rent homes, and that mix provides Why should a busy day care center add economic development the base for a rich community life. Churches, youth groups, and to its already demanding work of caring for children? park programs, for example, can draw on families with a range of Economically active neighborhoods provide families with key experiences and talents. Such neighborhoods have an active street benefits that help childcare centers accomplish their goal of keep- life, which reduces crime, and they offer young people the exam- ing families strong. When neighborhood businesses provide basic ple of adults regularly going to work and supporting their families. A community with a vital economic life is a healthier, easier, and BEST COPYAVAILABLE

8 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 safer place to raise a family. And one visible sign of economic Can I join an effort in my state to promote decent wages and vitalitylike a new day care centercan encourage other fami- benefits for low-paid family support workers? lies, businesses, and nonprofits to invest in their community. The necessary condition for a healthy neighborhood economy The following questions and answers suggest some of the many are households which earn a living wage. Family supportworkers ways in which a family support agency or other social service often work long hours for low pay and few benefits. Increasing agency can promote the community's economic life. the rewards of their work would benefit the entire community as more people earn enough to care for their families. Cooperative Can local family support agencies that are rehabbing or Home Care Associates in the South Bronx and Valley Care expanding their facilities build in a way that promotes eco- Cooperative in Waterbury, Connecticut are two home health aid nomic development? providers. Esperanza Unida, a community development and job New Horizon is merely one example of such leveraging. training organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates a day Food link, a statewide distributor of surplus food for food pantries care center. All three organizations have strategized to raise the in Sacramento, California, negotiated the deeding of 30 acres of a wages and benefits of their family-support workers closed military base, warehouses, and a 20,000 square foot freezer to set up a model food packaging company to employ and train Can my local high school or youth group integrate economic homeless people. In Sacramento the emphasis was not on the activity into the curriculum? physical development of a neighborhood, but on the provision of The contemporary world demands increased economic literacy employment to the unemployed. from young workers. A few schools have set up small businesses, (lawn care, school supplies, day care, small cafes) to train their Are our city and county governments giving low-income com- students in such skills as marketing, advertising, management, and munities a fair share of capital improvement funds? accounting. Other schools have established branches of credit Healthy communities need good roads, sidewalks, parks, street unions to teach basic lessons in credit, finance, and the advantages lighting, and other public amenities. These amenities encourage of saving. Students who work in these businesses acquire valuable households and businesses to increase their own investment in the work skills and financial knowledge. neighborhood. Some communities miss out on their share of these public goods and suffer decline. Check local capital budgets to As these examples demonstrate, the first step to promoting identify the problem and provide the data for a fairer sharing of economic development in your community is to imagine some resources. of the possibilities. Your day care center, church, block club, school council, or soft-ball league could set aside a session to Can I or my organization support the work of the local com- brainstorm how its members could promote economic develop- munity development corporations? ment. You may want to invite a local economic development Community development corporations or CDCs are nonprofits practitioner from a nearby CDC to join the conversation. If you which promote development in several ways. They might build or don't know any CDCs call the National Congress for Community rehab single or multifamily housing, improve the local retail strip, Economic Development in Washington, D.C. (202/234-5009) or encourage local industries to stay in the neighborhood and for suggestions. expand operations. Your organization might partner with a CDC on a joint development project, or you could volunteer at, con- Malcolm Bush, Ph.D., is President of the Woodstock Institute, 407 S. tribute to, or join your local CDC's board of directors. Dearborn Street, #550. Chicago, Illinois, 60605 , 312/427-8070 (phone), [email protected] (e-mail), www.nonprofit.net/wood- stockl(world wide web). The Woodstock Institute works nationally and Can the flow of social service dollars into our community trig- locally to promote access to capital, credit, and economic development ger economic development for local residents? in lower-income and minority communities through applied research, The Grand Boulevard community on the South Side of Chicago technical assistance and public education. is home to 36,000 mainly African American and low-income residents. In 1994, the Illinois Department of Aging spent $2.7 mil- Notes lion to serve Grand Boulevard residents, the Department of ' Details of this story and examples of other social service agencies promoting eco- Children and Family Services spent $12.4 million, the Department nomic development are described in Bush, M., G. Goldwater, and S. Zielenbach of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities $5.2 million, (1996) Increasing returns: the economic development potential of social service pro- and the Chicago Housing Authority, $21.7 million. Much of this grams (Chicago:Woodstock Institute). money went in wages and benefits for social service workers. If a For a complete list of state expenditures and temporal changes in those expendi- fraction of these expenditures went to local residents who had tures see Bush, M., A. Ortiz, and A. Maxwell (1966) Tracking the dollars: state social been trained to work in these agencies, the community would service spending in one low- income community (Chicago: Woodstock Institute). receive a significant economic bonus.'

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 9 Time [Dollars Creating a New Currencyto Build Community

by Edgar S. Cahn

Time Dollars and family support share a tions between producers and consumers, common foundation: relationship building. professionals and clients, providers and Time Dollars can be a powerful tool for recipients, givers and takers, investors and family support programs because they vali- managers. By creating parity for individu- date reciprocity and relationship building als and communities in their relationships as key ingredients in day-to-day communi- with professional helpers, Co-Production ty life. Family support evolved in part as a achieves systemic change. response to the erosion of the bonds and While Co-Production values what profes- relationships of family and community life sionals have to offer, it also poses a chal- by larger societal changes. While family lenge to prevailing notions of "best prac- support programs have achieved success in tice" to the extent that "our best thinking" supporting and strengthening families, has led us to where we areparalyzed or building relationships in the larger com- frustrated by our inability to make inroads munity has been more difficult. Time Dollars reinforce reciprocity and on major social problems because we have Time Dollars allow communities to for- trust, and they reward civic engagement failed to incorporate Co-Production as a malize support systems that, although cur- and acts of decency in a way that generatespervasive strategy that redefines roles, rela- rently informal, are crucial to the vitality social capital, one hour at a time. tionships, processes, and outcomes. of families and neighborhoods. Time In the process of developing applications Yet as critical as it is, Co-Production Dollars also allow individuals and commu- for this new medium of exchange, the the essential labor needed from the nities to define as "work" activities that Time Dollar Institute has seized upon a ultimate consumeris never fully funded traditionally have not been defined as fourth elementone that is even more and rarely directly funded, even partially. such. "Work" includes the daily contribu- basic, more fundamental than Time Instead, we fund specialized programs, tions of friends and families who help and Dollars. It is called Co-Production. professionals, outreach workers, and local care for each other and the community. organizationspaying staff while the In this article, excerpted from a report What is Co-Production? extensive and essential labor from the published by the Annie E. Casey Co-Production is the essential contribu- individual, the household, or the communi- Foundation, Time Dollar Institute tion to change efforts needed from the ulti- ty goes uncompensated. We rarely lay out President Edgar Cahn explains how Time mate consumer in his or her capacity as this inequity so explicitly. In part, that is Dollars give individuals and families a student, client, recipient, patient, tenant, because the cost of actually purchasing way to acquire and share the "social capi- beneficiary, neighbor, resident, or citizen. that labor at market prices, even at mini- tal" that is needed for optimal child and Experience with Time Dollar programs mum wage, would be prohibitive. So we family development. leads to a hypothesis: Without Co- tiptoe around the issue, calling for "com- Production, nothing that professionals, munity involvement," requiring "citizen Building social infrastructure and assess- organizations, or programs do can succeed. participation"without insisting on it too ing community assets have been key ele- With Co-Production, the impossible comes directly lest somebody ask us to pick up ments in past efforts to rebuild communi- within reach. the real cost. ties.' Time Dollars add a third piece. Time If this hypothesis is true, community- Time Dollars are a mechanism for Dollars are a currency to record, store and based groups, policymakers, and human rewarding that reciprocity and converting reward transactions where neighbors help service agencies must be convinced of the that contribution into compensated labor. neighbors. People earn Time Dollars by indispensability of that contribution, and They are a mechanism for securing using their skills and resources to help oth- they must begin to intentionally generate Co-Production. ers (by providing child or elder care, trans- Co-Production from the recipients, targets, portation, cooking, home improvement). or consumers of their efforts. Reciprocity Experiments with People spend Time Dollars to get help for must be central to achieve social change. Co-Production themselves or their families, or to join a This is the Co-Production Imperative. This past year, the Time Dollar Institute club that gives them discounts on food or Co-Production is not simply a undertook to design and directly operate health care. euphemism for expanding or enhancing cutting-edge Time Dollar programs in Time Dollars enable human beings for specialized social services with free labor order to better understand and showcase whom the market economy has no use to contributed by the consumer. Its function the many dimensions of Co-Production, redefine themselves as contributors, and and its power are far more fundamental. If the dynamics it creates, and the reshap- they give society a way to value activities undertaken as a priority and intentionally, ing of roles, processes and outcomes the market economy does not. Time Co-Production can yield new and more that result. Dollars empower any person to convert effective services and outcomes. It triggers personal time into purchasing power, processes and interactions that foster new Student Tutors Earn Computers stretching limited cash dollars further. behaviors. It alters conventional distinc- In a cross-age peer tutoring program in 11 10 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 Chicago, student tutors earn Time Dollars While these are successful examples, it is between service providers and communi- with which they can buy refurbished com- important to note that Time Dollars are not ties. A service organization could become a puters. Students are co-producing the key a panacea, nor are they the only meansof consulting firm, a lender, a broker, or an element often missing from less successful securing Co-Production. Volunteer pro- investment counselor rather than the "hold- tutoring and education efforts: peer grams, charismatic leadership, block clubs, er" of the knowledge and power needed for approval of academic achievement. In the neighborhood associations, social move- community change. Chicago sites, attendance went up on tutor- ments, employee ownership, changes in Fee-for-Service Arrangements: Time ing days. Students came to school in order professional practice that insist upon Dollar fees could be charged for a range of to stay after school to tutor or be tutored. greater patient or client autonomy, reli- professional services offered in communi- Bullying after school stopped. And 400 gious exhortation or spiritual inspiration, ties: mental and physical health, legal ser- children earned sufficient Time Dollars to neighbor-to-neighbor help, resident-owned vices, etc. purchase recycled computers to take home and managed enterprises, peer counseling at the end of the school year. and peer support programs, twelve-step Technical Assistance: Rather than paying programs, the entire self-help movement professional technical assistance providers, Teen Jurors Promote Responsibility all generate Co-Production. governments and foundations could sup- In Washington, D.C., a Time Dollar port reciprocal technical assistance services Youth Court brings juvenile first offenders New Strategies For between neighborhoods. charged with non-violent offenses before Generating Co-Production Tax Strategies: A community could create a jury of teenagers who earn Time Dollars Conventional efforts by human service a special taxing district option modeled on for their service. The teens co-produce key programs to mobilize a community are Business Improvement Districts, through elements missing from many unsuccessful labor intensive and tend to tax organiza- which a neighborhood improvement tax juvenile interventions: peer approval and tional capacity. In the end, the level of (with the option of paying in dollars or community acceptance. Teen participants commitment is often unpredictable. Time Dollars) would improve local ser- gain status by reasoning, by urging respon- However, if human service organizations vices, schools, and facilities. Or, where sible, decent behavior and by calling for or programs are to take a new approach neighborhood improvement results in high- prudent risk avoidance. In the Washington and embrace Co-Production in their orga- er valuation and assessment, tax credits Time Dollar Youth Court, there have been nizational mission, structure and budget, could be offered in return for Time Dollars only 8 re-arrests in more than 150 cases, two questions arise: earned creating the appreciated value. job offers are coming in for offenders who have completed their community service 1. How do you shift from a service-provid- Home Ownership: Home buyers seeking sentences, and youths are spending the ing mode, a largesse mode, a unilateral to secure affordable housing and renova- Time Dollars they earned through jury mode, a professional treatment mode, tion funds through subsidies and other gov- service on recycled computers. and a traditional volunteer-recruitment ernment programs could be offered Time mode into a Co-Production mode? and Dollar loans, which would be repaid Legal Services Exchanged for through work helping to maintain neigh- 2. How do you do it without prohibitive borhoods, provide social services, staff Community Improvement cost and an excessive diversion of scarce The Shaw neighborhood of Washington, neighborhood facilities, augment Head resources? The following examples D.C., made a retainer agreement with a Start capacity, provide community-based begin to answer these questions, and care for the elderly, etc. local law firm: Residents working on a show how Co-Production can be an community-building initiative donate one operational norm for communities, orga- Converting Government or Foundation Time Dollar (one hour of volunteer work) nizations, neighborhoods, membership Grants: Community Development Block in exchange for one billable hour of legal groups, professionals, and even govern- Grants and other neighborhood develop- work toward getting rid of crack houses, ment agencies. ment grants could be turned into Time fighting police corruption, and releasing Dollar loans, repayable by community funds to renovate a playground. Last year, The New Welfare Law: The "community groups. Through this strategy, the city the firm billed $234,979 in legal services service" option in the welfare law repre- would get services delivered on a benefiting the community, and community sents a historic opportunity to redefine community-basis at a price it could volunteers have paid that bill with Time work so as to include a broad range of not afford otherwise. Dollars earned cleaning up trash, planting social contributions which the market flowers, taking down license plate numbersdoes not value but which generate the Education: Tuition fees or equipment fees of drug dealers, providing safe escort to social capital essential to rebuilding com- for the use of computers could be charged seniors, tutoring at school, and performing munity, revitalizing neighborhoods, and in Time Dollars; students could be permit- neighbor-to-neighbor tasks. strengthening families. In addition, earning ted to convert loans into Time Dollar To further test the principle, the Institute Time Dollars for community service work loans; adjunct faculty and guest lecturers this year helped public housing residents in under welfare requirements creates a work could receive compensation in Time Washington, D.C., start a Time Dollar record, imparts work readiness habits, Dollars coupled with faculty privileges. Food Bank. There were many places where generates references, and provides a residents could get free foodmore and support system that can be critical to job New applications of Time Dollars possibly better than what the Time Dollar retention. Time Dollars could buy exten- and Co-Production are bounded only Food Bank could make available. sions of public assistance where there are by the limits of creativity. In any applica- Nonetheless, with the Food Bank as a cata- no jobs available. tion, Time Dollars and Co-Production operationalize a dramatic shift in the lyst, 296 residents of the public housing New Professional Roles: Co-Production complexes have generated 78,540 hours of service delivery relationship, with provides an opportunity to reconceptualize important results. service (measured in Time Dollars) during the nature of the working relationship the past 11 months.

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL. 16, NO. 3 II 12 The Broader Implications of Co-Production Home-Made Currency Changing unilateral acts of largesseby volunteers, by government, by helping professionals, by social service agencies, Strengthens Community by community development corpora- tionsinto reciprocity turns decency, car- Local Leader Tells of Ithaca's Success ing, and altruism into a catalyst for contri- And How It's Been Replicated bution and self-validation by the recipient. It redefines work. It expands our notion of by Paul Glover compensation beyond what money can buy and substantiates a definition of value 1- , beyond that to which the market accords recognition. It says we need each other. In the context of broader Co-Production strategies, Time Dollars have the power to: MSxe,r.ti ;,_s: .;! Ith.1(4, NY. Move us from a deficit-model to an Iaa \ ". N.. asset-based model by harnessing under- utilized human resources to help address critical social problems TER SERIES 1993 ®

Develop human capital so that disadvan- ,. taged persons can find paths out of Sedy poverty and avoid being shunted for life TER HOUR into dead-end jobs and revitalize the work ethic by rewarding social contribu- v.`..%34' tion as authentic work aver 1,250 residents of Ithaca, mortgage and loan fees. People pay rent New York, have exchanged Generate social capital in communities with HOURs. The best restaurants in town $62,000 of their own local habituated to redlining and disinvestment take them, as do movie theaters, bowling paper money. Since 1991, thousands of alleys, two large locally owned grocery Rebuild the non-market economy of fam- purchases and many new friendships have stores, many garage sales, 55 farmer's ily, neighborhood and community been made with this cash, and about market vendors, the Chamber of $2,000,000 of local trading has been added Commerce, and 350 other businesses. One In short, Co-Production supplies the ele- to the "Grassroots National Product," of our latest additions is the local hospital! ments needed to bring fruition to a vision: adding the equivalent of one-hundred There are three ways that HOURs enter To put within our reach the power to cre- $20,000-a-year jobs to the local economy. circulation. First, everyone who agrees to ate a world where any person willing to Based on Ithaca's example, there are at accept them is paid one or two HOURs for contribute by helping another will be able least 45 HOUR systems in North America, being listed in our newsletter HOUR to earn the purchasing power and status with at least 30 more forming. Town. Every eight months they may needed to enjoy a decent standard of living We printed our own money because we receive an additional HOUR as reward for and the opportunity to learn and to grow. watched federal dollars come to town, continuing participation. Most HOURs, shake a few hands, then leave to buy rain however, have been issued as payment to Edgar Cahn is President of the Time Dollar forest lumber and fight wars. Ithaca's those who agree to back HOURs by being Institute, a non-profit corporation that creates HOURs, by contrast, stay in our region to listed in our directory Ithaca Money. They, and sponsors initiatives so that the beneficia- help us hire each other. While dollars maketoo, may receive a bonus payment for ries of social programs can become co-pro- us increasingly dependent on multinational ducers of education, justice, self-sufficiency, every eight months that they continue to corporations and bankers, HOURs rein- opportunity, community development, and participate. Anyoneindividuals and busi- social change. The Time Dollar Institute can force community trading and expand com- nesses alikemay earn and spend be reached at P.O. Box 42160, Washington, merce that is more accountable to our con- HOURs. And once issued, anyone may D.C. 20015. For information and free Time cerns for ecology and social justice. spend the HOURS, whether they are listed Dollar software, visit the web site at in our directory or not. http://www.timedollarorg How It Works The third way HOURs enter circulation The Ithaca HOUR, worth $10, is the is by grants. Barter Potluck, our wide-open basic unit of currency. This value was cho- governing body, donates 10 percent of all sen because 10 dollars per hour is the aver-HOURs issued to nonprofit community age of wages/salaries in Tompkins County. organizations. So far, 40 organizations HOUR notesin 2, 1, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 have received over $6,000 of local curren- HOUR denominationsbuy plumbing, cy. (Five percent of HOURs may be issued carpentry, electrical work, roofing, nursing, to the system itself, primarily to pay for chiropractic, childcare, car and bike repair, printing HOURs.) We have also capital- food, eyeglasses, firewood, gifts, and thou- ized new businesses with no-interest sands of other goods and services. HOUR loans ranging in value from $50 Alternatives Federal Credit Union (see to $1000. related story, this issue) accepts them for Continued on page 14

12 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 .43 Five Months in the Life of an HOUR an actual Ithaca HOUR trading path by Houghton/Glover

f&THEL MAILED THECOUPON SO ONEHOUR WAS .1 FROM THEBACK PAWOF 155uED TOHERFOR REC.fIVell4ELE5 IT ITHACA mown; OFFERINCr BECOMING-A PUE4-1541ED IN THE 800KKEEFINCr.SHE AL.sREES BACKER OF HOURS, TO KEEP HERPHONE ACCORGINC1TO MAIL. WAVER BARLERcvuo< UP -10- MAn.CY. DATE.

WHO ...WHOPAID DAVID, ,SHESPENT IT AT AT' WHO pAip RENT PAID ONE OF 20 TO 1415 LITTLETREE ORCHARDS IT TO GREENSTAR FOR APPLES. ERICA EMPLOYEES LANDLADY ../Ay, FOR NGr DEBBY... PRUNINCr.. HOURS...

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BEST COPY AMIABLE FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICAREPORT FALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 1 3 1_ 4 The Community Is Invested harder to counterfeit than dollars. All are major funding for community organiza- HOURs are backed by real people and multicolored with serial numbers, and tions, new business start-ups, and munici- real labor, skills, and tools. And it's still some are printed on handmade hemp pal projects like weatherization and transit. legal tender, according to Professor Lewis paper. The 1993 HOUR note is printed on Someday we may be able to purchase land Solomon of George Washington University locally made, watermarked, 100-percent for farms. who wants an extensive study of the rele- cattail (marsh reed) paper, with matching The success stories of 300 participants vant case law, Rethinking Our Centralized serial numbers front and back. The 1995 published in HOUR Town so far testify to Monetary System: the Case for Local quarter HOUR uses a thermal ink, inventedthe acts of generosity and community that Currency (Praeger, 1996). IRS and FED in Ithaca, that disappears briefly when our system prompts. HOUR Town's 1,500 officials agree: when asked by the media, touched or photocopied. listings, rivaling the Yellow Pages, form a they have said repeatedly that there is no portrait of our community's ability to bring prohibition of local currency as long as it into the marketplace time and skills not does not look like dollars and denomina- employed by the conventional market. tions are valued at one dollar or more. Residents are proud of income gained by HOURs are taxable income when traded "As a visitor to Ithaca, I bought doing work they enjoy. As we discover for professional goods or services, and our HOURS from a store and went new ways to provide for each other, we district attorney has declared them a finan- replace dependence on imports and trans- cial instrument, protected by law from out to find what I coulddo with port fuels and relieve the social desperation counterfeit. these unusual bills. To transact that leads to compulsive shopping and The HOURly minimum wage lifts the wasted resources. We encounter each lowest-paid up without knocking down HOURS is to engage in person- other as fellow Ithacans, rather than as higher wages. For example, several of to-person relationships,and to winners and losers scrambling for dollars. Ithaca's organic farmers are paying the In Ithaca, we're making a community highest common farm labor wages in the build community in the while making a living. world: $10 of spending power per HOUR. process." These farmers benefit by the HOUR's loy- The Hometown Money Starter Kit alty to local agriculture. On the other hand, Hudson Valley Green Times, explains the process of starting and dentists, massage therapists, and lawyers Winter 1994 maintaining an HOURs system step by who charge more than the $10 per hour are step, and includes forms, laws, articles, permitted to collect several HOURs hourly. procedures, insights, samples of Ithaca's But professionals choose to offer their ser- HOURs, and issues of Ithaca Money (it vices at the equitable one HOUR per hour costs $25). A 17-minute English language rate. And spending HOURs at Ithaca's Growth in Ithaca video and a 10-minute Spanish language locally owned stores keeps more wealth in HOURs in Ithaca is growing: The new video are available for $15 each. The kit the community. Ithaca Health Fund provides nonprofit, and videotape together cost $40. Contact locally controlled health financing that Paul Glover at Ithaca HOURS, Box Bills Portray Local Values accepts HOURs as a part of premium pay- 6578, Ithaca, NY 14851, 607/ 272-4330, The images on Ithaca's money honor our ments (visit the world wide web site at http: / /wwwpubliccom. com/web/ children, native flowers, waterfalls, crafts, http://www.lightlink.com/healthfund). We ithacahour and farms. Our commemorative HOUR is also intend to open a community economic the first paper money in the United States development center called HOUR Town, to honor an African American. HOURs are and look forward to being able to provide

1-101DRs Expand the local money supply Promote local shopping Double the local minimumwage to $10 Increase the amountconsumers spend at local businesses Help start new businesses and jobs Reduce dependence on imports andtransport fuels Make grants to nonprofit community organizations Create zero-interest loans Stimulate community pride

14 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 15 Financial Institutions That Empower

by Laura Benedict and Pei-Yuan Chung

In many communities, those who need family-related service providers and, espe- credit the most are unable to secure it. cially, the child care industry. Since 1994 it Many families are trapped in poverty by SELFA,HELPhas focused on this area because it plays a a weak credit history or past financial critical role in promoting community prevented her family from qualifying for a problems. Without assets, such as equity in development and because our research traditional mortgage loan. She came to a home, it is difficult for family members indicates that conventional options fall Self-Help, which, because of its flexible to fulfill their potential by, for example, short of the demand. During 1992 (before guidelines, was able to give her a loan. She sending a child to college or starting a developing a targeted lending focus), Self- was then able to move her family from a business. When community members own Help made two loans to childcare mobile home to a house in eastern North homes and businesses, communities have providers. In 1996 it made 37 loans, deliv- Carolina. Last year, Self-Help was able to a solid foundation on which to grow ering almost $3 million, to childcare help 113 similar families in North Carolina and prosper. providers. One typical childcare loan was move into their own homes. Fifty-eight Recently, community development finan- made to an African American couple in percent of these loans went to minority cial institutions (CDFIs) have arisen to North Carolina. They received a loan of families, 28 percent to rural families, and meet the need for credit. Low-income fam- $25,000 to add a room onto their house, 33 percent to woman-headed households. ilies and others facing difficult or unusual making it possible for them to expand their financial situations can now gain access to home childcare business. This allowed affordable homes, decent jobs, and eco- Business Lending them to serve 12 children instead of five In the area of commercial lending, Self- nomic security. Today over 350 CDFIs in and at the same time improved the value Help places high priority on making busi- communities across the United States pro- of their home and consequently, their ness ownership possible for people who vide loans for home ownership, small busi- net worth. have entrepreneurial talents and drive, but nesses, and nonprofit organizations. The Self-Help has begun to expand its focus, limited assets. Traditional banks may have Center for Community Self-Help is one of bringing the same dedication it has shown rigid standards for commercial lending, but these CDFIs. in the childcare area to assisting the broad- CDFIs, with their primary focus on com- The Center for Community Self-Help er nonprofit and human services communi- munity development, can be more flexible was founded in 1980 to expand economic ty. Shrinking resources and the downsizing and take the time to help a marginal appli- opportunities for low-income workers in of the government lead many nonprofits to cant become a good borrower. Self-Help North Carolina, where more than 27 per- seek loans. Loans may be a good means of loans to businesses have ranged in size cent of full-time workers earn less than financing if: from very small "micro loans" of several $15,000 a year. It soon became evident that hundred dollars upwards to a million dol- this goal could best be achieved by helping The project will increase revenue beyond lars. It has concentrated its efforts during to remove a key barrier to economic the cost of the loan. A rural nonprofit the past few years on filling many under- opportunity: lack of access to credit. Thus, hospital used $225,000 in loans to open served financing niches for commercial in 1984 the Center created two financing a health clinic in a neighboring town. enterprises, and particularly on two fronts: affiliates, the Self-Help Ventures Fund and Before the clinic opened, area residents "micro" lending for very small businesses Self-Help Credit Union, to make home and drove substantial distances, often and self-employed entrepreneurs, and business loans to people not served by con- down mountain roads, for a shot or financing for larger businesses that ventional financial institutions. In more routine checkup. increase local employment and recent years, it has begun to meet the growing needs of today's families and ownership opportunities. The nonprofit expects, but has not For example, one Latin American man, communities through a loan program for received, a grant or a contract. A loan after working in a restaurant for 18 years, nonprofits and human service providers. can serve as a bridge. Self-Help made a came to Self-Help in hopes of starting his $253,000 loan to a mental health organi- Using the Services of a CDFI own eatery. He had heard from a friend zation, allowing it to buy eight condo- that Self-Help directed its lending toward Services to Families and Individuals miniums and lease them at affordable new entrepreneurs with little wealth, and Home Lending rates to low-income adults with mental thus might be the organization to help The American dream of home ownership disabilities. The group was to receive make his vision a reality. After just 18 eludes thousands of families. These fami- funding for the project from the U.S. months, he was able to pay off the Self- lies work hard and pay taxes, yet many Department of Housing and Urban Help loan, and he is now planning to can't qualify for home loans. They may not Development, but that funding could expand his restaurant business. have money for a down payment, or they take two years to reach them, coming may have credit blemishes. CDFIs like much too late to buy these homes. The Self-Help Credit Union can offer flexible Services to Nonprofit and Human Self-Help loan allowed them to buy the financing alternatives and counseling to Services Organizations condominiums before they lost their Community Facilities Fund overcome these barriers. For example, in purchase option. It was to be repaid Through its Community Facilities Fund, 1995 one African-American mother had a year later, once the federal funding Self-Help Credit Union has been targeting heavy medical bills for her father which came through.

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 I 5 1 6 The project will replace a current cost, modest resources, and the ins and outs of families with no assets, Self-Help helps such as rent or a lease payment. In 1996, nonprofit accounting. them to climb the ladder through owning Self-Help made a loan to a nonprofit It offers management help for entrepre- their first home. That home can be then agency that provides housing and support neurs, household budget counseling, and used as collateral for starting or expanding services to adults with developmental dis- technical advice for nonprofits. Capacity a business, allowing them to climb even abilities. The agency purchased two building is, at times, the most beneficial higher and take advantage of the opportu- townhouses, each having space for three service. nities that ownership can provide. Families adults. In considering the loan, the orga- Self-Help has developed several manu- are key to climbing that ladder, and know- nization compared its current rental pay- als, including The Business Side of Child ing about CDFIs as a tool can help family ments of $575 per month to the projected Care, a reference manual and diskette to counselors guide them on the in their path mortgage payments with a Self-Help guide providers and lenders in starting to a better standard of living. loan. Self-Help was able to offer a very childcare programs; and Commercial attractive package which brought the Lending Guide: The Wit and Wisdom of For more information on CDF1s, see the monthly payment to just under $400. the Self-Help Team, a training and refer- Resource File at the back of this issue. Ownership in this particular case was not ence manual that describes the commercial only cheaper, but offered stability to the lending process. Laura Benedict directs Self-Help's North residents and provided a vehicle for As a CDFI, Self-Help's goal has been to Carolina Community Facilities Fund. Pei- asset-building for the nonprofit. help people climb the ladder of economic Yuan Chung is a student at Duke University opportunity. For those who are not quite and works in Community Facilities, focusing Nonfinancial Assistance ready to step up to the ladder, such as thoseon childcare. They can be reached at Self-Help As a nonprofit, Self-Help understands thewith developmental disabilities, or for Credit Union, P.O. Box 3619, Durham, NC challenges of fundraising, the impact of the 27702, 919/ 956-4400 (phone), laura@self- those who have fallen off, such as recover- help.org and [email protected]. changing political environment, the cre- ing substance abusers, Self-Help supports ativity required for staff development with the organizations that support them. For

Dollars For Dreams Youth Credit Union by Geni Abrams and Joel Cisne

Alternatives Federal Credit Union in you deposit five dollars, you get a stamp sibility with money, creating a video on Ithaca, New York, sponsors a large and on one of your squares," Bennett how loans work, authoring an edition of highly regarded credit union for young explains. "When you fill all 10 squares, the nationally circulated newsletter people that with the exception of its you become eligible for a monthly draw- Extending Communications, organizing a coordinator, Theresa Bennett, is run ing where the winner gets a DFD t-shirt committee to manage projects, setting up exclusively by volunteers under the age (designed by our volunteers) plus other a world wide web page, and holding two of 18. Its name is Dollars for Dreams prizes donated by local merchants." bake sales that together raised approxi- (DFD), and with more than 570 mem- Since the game started one-and-a-half mately $160. bers and $180,000 in assets, it is one of years ago, deposits have increased. "No question about it," Bennett says. the premiere youth credit unions in the What impresses Bennett most about "Young people these days are more con- nation. Currently 11 volunteers between her young volunteers is their reliability, cerned than we used to be... about the the ages of 11 and 17 hold teller posi- their ability to grasp dry and complex environment, their communities, and the tions, edit a quarterly newsletter and financial concepts, and their enthusiasm world in general. Our challenge is to other external copy, and handle loans. for their jobs. Consider 16-year-old show them how credit unions help their "Since I started here two years ago as a Andrew Sackett, for example, DFD's fellow students, their families, and their Volunteer in Service to America, the vol- loan officer and one of its most enthusi- neighbors. Recruiting volunteers and unteers have become like my children," astic volunteers. DFD offers loans of up teaching them about credit unions when Bennett says. "The oldest one, Kate to $500, allowing a maximum of two they're young is one of the best ways to Kaproth, is 18 now, and she is about to years to pay them off. As soon as a pay- ensure a lifetime commitment to the leave us for college. I'm starting to feel ment is a week late, Andrew will call and credit union movement." `empty nest syndrome'for someone remind the borrower to come in. So far else's kid!" his vigilance has paid off. There has not This article was adapted from CUC One advantage of working with young been a single instance of delinquency. Connection, November 1996. volunteers is that they are willing to try DFD is open on Fridays from 3:30 to out new ideas, Bennett says. For exam- 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 to For more information, contact Theresa ple, Kaproth designed and produced a 11:30 a.m. On Fridays, their main work- Bennett, Alternatives Federal Credit Union, game called "Deposit 5." Each member day, those who aren't tellers work on 301 W. State St., Ithaca, NY 14850, 607/273- gets a card with 10 squares printed on marketing, fundraising, and planning 4666 (phone) 607/277-6391 (fax), [email protected] (e-mail). one side and the member's name and projects. DFD accomplishments include account number on the other. "Each time holding two workshops teaching respon-

16 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL 16, NO. 3 Community Partnership Lending Through Credit Unions Nonprofits and Credit Unions Help Families Get Loans

by Leni Hochman

Ithaca, New York, is blessed with many Snapshots of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that Partnerships supply advocacy and support to their The Three clients. Too often, however, these organi- Pillars Foundation zations cannot supply one thing that couldis one example of make all the difference in the world community part- money. Community partnership lending, a nership lending in program announced in January 1997, action. The foun- addresses this problem by joining the dation is sponsored resources and skills of nonprofit organiza- by the Ithaca tions with those of Alternatives Credit Housing Union so that it can offer loans to people Authority's Familyfrf who need them. Self-Sufficiency I Program. After How It Works completing course Through community partnership lend- work in the pro- ing, a deposit (called risk capital) made gram, participants by a nonprofit organization is doubled by may apply for a the credit union to create a lending pool. loan to use in pay- Then the organization, with guidance ing for defaulted from Alternatives, develops lending crite- student loans, car repair, and medical or establish partnerships with other commu- ria and lends the money to the organiza- credit card bills. The foundation provides nity-based organizations. Alternatives is tion's clients. Alternatives originates and education and peer support while attack- working with the three organizations services the loans. ing the problem of severe, long-term debt.described above on an asset accumulation For example, an NPO raises $10,000 Three Pillars has distributed its first loan. program called individual development from-a grant and deposits it.-With-help Another entity that soon will take part accounts: any donation made to the orga- from Alternatives, the organization makes in community partnership lending is the nization for the purpose of lending will be a flexible loan policy to accommodate the Economic Opportunities Corporation. The pooled with an equal amount from needs of its clients or members. It can corporation will give emergency loans for Alternatives. The program boosts non- then authorize the credit union to distrib- unmet medical expenses, home repairs, profit organizations' fundraising efforts ute up to $20,000 in low-interest loans. vehicle repairs, rent security deposits, because donors know their money is The NPO owns the risk pool and can childcare expenses, and transportation going twice as far as it normally would. withdraw it when all loans are repaid. costs starting this fall. It will begin con- These innovative lending programs are Innovative loan programs such as sidering loans for small business ventures bringing together the capital of a lending these are made possible by the fact that next spring. institution with the community-based the nonprofit organizations do a lot of Alternatives Credit Union also is nego- strengths of local nonprofit organizations. the work that otherwise would have to be tiating a partnership agreement with Although it is too early to measure their done by the lending institution. And while Community Enterprise Opportunities, long-term effects, the programs are the loans are a higher-than-normal risk forwhich provides small loans, workshops, expected to promote economic security in the credit union, that risk is reduced by and technical assistance to people who arefamilies and in the community, the risk capital deposited by the nonprof- starting or expanding microenterprises. it organization and by the relationships Leni Hochman is Assistant Manager of Alternatives Federal Credit Union, in charge of mutual accountability that the organiza- One Collaboration Leads of Marketing and Personnel. She started there tions have with their program participants, to Others as a teller in 1982, when the Credit Union had who are taking part in educational oppor- Community partnership lending is $1 million in assets and 1000 members. Alternatives now has $22.5 million in assets tunities and/or counseling as part of allowing Alternatives Credit Union to the loan. and over 6500 members. BEST COPYAVAILABLE

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 17 Supporting Families Toward Economic Security California Programs Show By Example

Families face growing challenges an advisory committee helped to in the struggle to do well for interpret and clarify the findings. themselves and their children in The information provided by the California.' Both private and public survey indicates that family support sector restructuring are eroding tradi- programs are beginning to engage in tional sources of families' social and activities to enhance family econom- economic security. As a result, local ic security. Some of their strategies, communities must be well organized illustrated by specific program exam- to capture scarce opportunities and The National Economic Develop- ples, focus on parental employment resources that can promote family through: stability and self-sufficiency. To ment & Law Center's far-reaching meet this challenge, new leader- 1. Participant hiring in family ship must be mobilized in many survey indicates that family support and human service areas of community life. It is in this activities context that the National Economic support programs are beginning 2. Employment brokering, or facili- Development & Law Center decided tating the hiring of participants by to explore the emerging role of family to engage in activities to enhance regional employers support programs in community economic development. family economic security. 3. Self-employment or microenterprise development Two Fields Overlap 4. Nonprofit enterprise development The terms "family support" and to create new jobs for participants "community economic development" have both been used to describe a Family support programs do not wide range of activities carried out by tiveness of programs limit their community economic develop- many different organizations. Family sup- addressed respectively to changing family ment activities to those that focus on port programs provide culturally respon- relationships and community conditions. parental employment: they are also sive services to families that empower engaged in: adults in their roles as parents, nurturers, Strategies for Success To acquaint itself with family support 1. Mutual assistance activities designed to and providers. Community economic effect community-wide economic development organizations seek to restore practitioners and their emerging interest in community economic development, exchange and lower families' cost of the economic base of low-income commu- living nities through local development strategies the Center conducted 12 telephone and that are resident-led. eight on-site interviews of California 2. Affordable housing development; Whereas the primary object of family family support programs. Then, through a 3. Development of stable, better quality support is to strengthen family relations, written survey mailed to more than 1,000 childcare for working parents the primary object of community economicCalifornia organizations, staff attempted to development is community change. Still, determine whether the interviewed pro- 4. Partnerships between family support the fields share certain core values, espe- grams were representative of a broader programs and community development cially an emphasis on resident or partici- engagement in community economic organizations pant empowerment as the key to the effec- development among family support practitioners.' Two practitioner focus groups and Continued on page 21 What Can I Do? Playing a Role in Community Economic Development The Family Resource Coalition of and send FRCA the survey on the follow- Family Resource Coalition of America America is developing new resources and ing page. The information used in this sur- Attn: Mark McDaniel materials to help the family support field vey will tell FRCA what kinds of assis- 20 N. Wacker Drive apply community economic development tance would be most useful to you, so that Suite 1100 strategies and concepts. Are you interested we can develop the materials you need. Chicago, IL 60606 in combining community economic devel- Please answer all of the questions and fax Fax: 312/338-1522 opment with your work to strengthen and or send the survey by March 31, 1998, to: support families and communities? Fill out

18 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 a Program Survey

Family Support and Community Economic Development

1. Organization:

Address:

Your name/title:

Telephone number:

2. What are the principal settings for your family support activities? El homes 0 multi-service site El family resource center 0 child care or youth center O schools 0 other (please describe):

3. Do your organizational goals include changing any of the following conditions that affect families? El housing opportunities 0 police relations El job opportunities 0 adult education/job training resources O safety on the streets 0 banking /financial resources El drug trafficking 0 political power

0 child care resources U community leadership O health care resources 0 other (please describe): O school quality

4. Does your organization (alone or in collaboration with others) undertake (or have plans to undertake) any of the following community development activities? YES NO PLANS a. housing development 0 0 0 b. enterprise development 0 0 0 c. small business or self-employment support programs 0 El El d. commercial development or revitalization 0 0 0 e. child care development El El 0 f. loan fund or credit union development El 0 0 g. community greening or gardening El 0 El h. community organizing for safety El El El i. other (please describe):

5. Does your organization (alone or in collaboration with others) undertake (or have plans to undertake) any of the following employment development activities? YES NO PLANS a. vocational assessment and counseling 0 El El b. adult basic education El 0 El c. GED program El El 0 d. ESL program El El El e. job club (support group) 0 El 0 f. job referral and information El El 0 g. self-employment training 0 El 0

20 h. job training Cl Cl Cl i. job creation through enterprise development Cl Cl Cl j. transportation to employment Cl Cl Cl k. child care for working parents Cl Cl Cl 1. other (please describe): Cl Cl Cl

6. Does your organization have written policies or procedures to recruitprogram participants or neighborhood residents as employees? Cl Yes Cl No Cl Policies for both

7. Are you interested in opportunities to undertake community developmentor employment development activities? Cl Strongly interested Cl Interested Cl Not interested

8. What assets can your organizationdraw on in order to pursue community development or employment development activities? (circle) a. past organizational successes f. partnership or funding opportunities b. participant interest/support g. staff commitment or expertise c. part of our mission h. public sector support d. board commitment or expertise i. economic conditions external to the organization e. have a community plan j. other (please describe):

9. What barriers prevent your organization from pursuing community developmentor employment development activities? (circle) a. current funding is service specific e. operating grant b. technical assistance f. grants or loans for project start-up costs c. peer mentoring g. other (please describe): d. planning grant

10. What kinds of assistance would you utilize, if available, to helpyour organization undertake community development or employment development activities? (circle) a. training d. planning grant b. technical assistance e. operating grant c. peer mentoring from similar f. grants or loans for project start-up costs programs g. other (please describe):

Please fax the completed survey by March 31, 1998, to Mark McDaniel, FRCA, 312/338-1522,or mail it to:

Family Resource Coalition of America Attn: Mark McDaniel 20 N. Wacker Drive Suite 1100 Chicago, IL 60606

This survey was adapted with permission from the National Economic Development & Law Center.It originally was developed for the NEDLC publication Community Renewal of Family Economic Security. parental employment. They identify partic- given to evaluating community change ipant interest and support as the most activities and to understanding how new important assets they bring to community evaluation methods can inform outcome- economic development activities. based public sector funding. Dialogue and exchange between the Programs Take Lead From fields of family support and community Families economic development on critical practice The family support field's emerging issues should be promoted. In particular, interest in community economic develop- the diverse ways that practitioners in both ment may have been fostered by communi-fields support shared leadership among ties' need to establish priorities rooted in community residents, professional staff, broad-based assessments and to plan how and outside stakeholders deserve more crit- to meet those priorities. Yet the family, ical examination, as does the effect of cul- rather than a specific geographic or ethnic tural differences on leadership practices. community, is the focus of family support Partnerships and collaborations should be programs. Several family support princi- explored before an organization duplicates ples lead these programs, unlike those a program capacity that already exists in offered by traditional human services, to the community. o engage in resident-led strategies that focus Both fields need to build their capacity to on developing new community resources monitor and influence state and local and enterprises. resources and policies that will increasing- In particular, they place a strong empha- ly affect community building and commu- g, sis on community outreach and inclusive- nity economic development in California's ness, convenience to families, prevention low-income communities. -4 rather than crisis responses, mobilization 5. Comprehensive community exchange of parents' strengths and assets, cultural initiatives. While promising, all of these accountability and responsiveness, parent Notes leadership, and community context. As 'Excerpted with the permission of the National strategies, including those related to Economic Development & Law Center from their employment, raise many questions and they apply these principles in diverse community settings, family support practi- study on California family support programs, published require further development and evalua- in Community Renewal of Family Economic Security. tion before they can be viewed as mod- tioners may develop and sustain a focus els for other family support programs on the local economic opportunities, 'The survey is included in this issue of FRCA Report in resources, and community markets that shortened form. See previous page. The family support field in California is affect family welfare. characterized by a remarkable diversity of sponsorship, setting, and services provided, Partnership Offers Solutions which may indicate a fundamental "entre- to Challenges preneurial" resourcefulness in the practice Family support programs face a number of family support. There is a significant of challenges as they develop their com- degree of engagement with lower-income munity economic development capacities communities and communities of color, in the midst of dramatic public and private where the need for local community-based sector changes. To meet these challenges, organizations to assemble resources and these programs need to identify the strate- develop strategies that promote family eco- gic intersection of their unique organiza- nomic security is the greatest. Eighty-four tional strengths and capacities with the percent of the surveyed programs were community market and with partnership interested in building capacity to pursue and resource opportunities. community economic development. Given Promising strategies should continue to their primary focus on the family, it is not be developed and evaluated, with attention surprising that their greatest interest is in being paid to common issues of organiza- building community resources that support tional capacity requirements, relative com- child health, education, and out-of-home munity benefit, and community leadership care, and next, in strategies that support implications. Greater emphasis should be

BESTCOPYAVAILABLE 22 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL 16, NO. 3 2 Federal Efforts Injected with Family Support

by Ann Rosewater

Federal health and human services Welfare Reform:A Broad portation planners, and other stakeholders programs increasingly incorporate Vision in San Francisco that have both direct and indirect impacts family support themes in their poli- on a community's ability to thrive. cies and activities. And family support is Welfare reform, for example, creates new expectations for very low-income families One notable example is the San becoming an important strategy in commu- Francisco, California, task force estab- nity building. Specifically, two key con- to go to work, and restricts the time a family can receive federal assistance. Changes lished by Mayor Willie Brown, Jr., which cepts about supporting families are emerg- was charged with developing a communi- ing in federal initiatives: that healthy in the welfare law also create new expectations and flexibility for states to create the ty-level response to the federal changes in outcomes for children require that their programs affecting low-income families. In families have a combination of opportuni- opportunities that enable families to meet the new requirements. These transforma- its recommendations for restructuring the ties to provide both economic and social tions offer a chance for innumerable inno- city's social welfare system, the Mayor's support; and that those opportunities Welfare Task Force identified several need to be fostered in the community important themes to guide the city and by the community. These ideas and the county into a method of ser- are being embraced within initiatives vice delivery that is less focused on that, as a rule, have focused on indi- eligibility determination and service viduals, as well as by more recent fragmentation and more centered on efforts to effect change comprehen- supporting the whole family by dis- sively across systems and in defined In essence, the Family Place covering its strengths and needs. The geographic areas. task force used family support themes Several federal programs imple- in Detroit's federally supported to undergird its planning and develop- mented in recent years, such as Early ment of a new service structure that Head Start, the Family Preservation Empowerment Zonehas taken the encourages and assists individuals and Support Services Program, concepts of family-centered to go to work while ensuring that and Empowerment Zones and their children are safe, supervised Enterprise Communities, include comprehensive services and put and receiving good care. principles of family-focused and One key recommendation of the community-based services and sup- them into practice as a critical San Francisco task force is to make ports, partnerships with residents and the system more responsive and sen- families, multi-generational element of a community and sitive by employing community resi- approaches, building on strengths and dents and former welfare recipients to assets, and coordination and co-loca- economic development strategy. provide support for others making the tion of services as key elements. transition. This approach is intended These important new initiatives to provide an alternative to the tradi- reflect the promising learnings about tional model of a caseworker who practice, policy, institutional, and sys- fixes problems for the family, replac- temic change that have been emerging it with one in which a peer or ing from the family support field. vations and partnerships to generate the appropriate supports. neighbor, with a familiar face, support the As the federal role has begun to change, family through a complex set of changes. these principles have offered a framework It also creates jobs for community mem- for the new intergovernmental and public- In many places, however, in order to be successful, innovation around welfare bers leaving public assistance. Another rec- private partnerships necessary to achieve ommendation calls for using existing com- our goals of healthy family and child reform requires a broader community vision. The larger community, in some munity infrastructures, such as churches development. Significant changes in the and community centers, as places to pro- welfare and health care systems also cases a metropolitan area, will be needed to provide the jobs and supports that an vide support, deliver services, and provide place new decision-making responsibilities employment information. at the state and community levels, individual and her or his family will create new expectations for low-income require to find a job, take the job, and keep the job. As a result, states and some com- Family Support in families in the areas of employment and parental responsibility, and create new munities have undertaken strategic plan- Empowerment Zones and challenges for child, family, and ning processes, engaging representatives Enterprise Communities community development. from sectors not typically at the table in Themes similar to those of the San designing social services, such as residents,Francisco effort are evident in various businesses, the faith community, trans- Empowerment Zones and Enterprise

22 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 Communities across the country. These ployed, be low-income, or have a dysfunc- ty for managing and defining services. efforts, which number 105 nationwide, are tion to apply. Services and resources are CSRA centers offer a broad scope of ser- the centerpiece of the Clinton Administra- available to any resident of the community, vices. The wide range of assistance that tion's effort to revitalize distressed and are delivered with a full understanding they offer includes a micro enterprise fund communities. These neighborhoods and of family strengths and family-identified to provide loans for self-employment ven- communities are provided tax incentives needs. Childcare, parenting classes, behav- tures, GED classes, youth leadership train- and discretionary funding for a 10-year ioral and physical health care, job readi- ing, small business development, job readi- period. Built on the premises of economic ness services, and other types of support ness assistance, and counseling on housing. opportunity, sustainable community are coordinated and continually evaluated Centers soon will offer training in commu- development, community-based partner- to make sure that the services are appropri- nity organizing and leadership for the fam- ships, and a strategic vision for change, ate and effective. In essence, the Family ilies who receive services, to strengthen the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Place has taken the concepts of family-cen- families' skills in taking control of their Communities are primers for building tered comprehensive services and put them own lives, helping other families, and the networks necessary to ensure into practice as a critical element of a addressing community issues. family support. community and economic develop- Whether looking at welfare reform or at Within a six-block radius of north ment strategy. Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Detroit, an Empowerment Zone has forged The Central Savannah River Area Communities, federal initiatives increas- a partnership with the W. K. Kellogg (CSRA) Enterprise Community, spanning ingly are seeking to ensure the healthy Foundation to establish a "village" that six counties in Georgia, also is using the development of children while supporting revitalizes the community and its families. family support model. CSRA has estab- mothers and fathers as they strive to be Inside the village are familiar establish- lished human development centers in each good parents, good workers, and active cit- mentsa high school, churches, business- of its 10 census tracts. The partnership izens in their communities. es, non-profit community organizations, includes 15 public and private organiza- and health centersworking in tandem to tions that provide the centers with funds in Ann Rosewater, Counselor to the Secretary, provide family support services to resi- addition to the federal and city money. United States Department of Health and dents. At the center of the village is the Local residents determine the specific Human Services, is a former member of the Family Place, where agencies, parents, and needs addressed by each center. Services FRCA Board of Directors. She can be reached community organizations collaborate in are not necessarily performed on site; they at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Humphrey Bldg., Rm. 636G, running an early childhood, family devel- may be coordinated by the center and per- 200 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, opment, and family support center that formed elsewhere in the community. Each DC 20201, 202/260-9923 (phone), 202/260- links on-site resources with those available center is coordinated by a resident from the 3053 (fax). throughout the community. community. And a board of local residents What makes the Family Place special is along with representatives from the region- that a family does not have to be unem- al enterprise community share responsibili-

Our House by Ann Rosewater One of the first family support Even more compelling was the role that this vitalcenter of programs I ever visited, nearly a energy, opportunity, learning, and relationship building was play- decade ago, was Our Housea ing in the community life of the housing project.The project bustling, energetic program for was isolated near a highway; even the nearest basketball court teen mothers, located in a hous- was hard to get to. The program was run not by the depart- ing project in East Baltimore, ment of social services but by the city housing authority. Maryland. It showed many of the The director, a housing authority employee, understoodthe characteristics of innovative com- culture of growing up in the project. He knew that takingtwo munity development that we apartments out of residential use and turning them intoa have come to understand in the structured, caring, active environment forteen women was a 1990s as critical to community trade that was more than worthwhile. The program'smentor- building in low-income neighboring, peer-to-peer learning, and development of informalnet- hoods nationwide. works of support lasted well beyond the hoursspent on-site. My tour of that program Like the community economic development effortsdis- focused on the activities provid- cussed in these pages, this program was place-based. Itrecog- ed, the skills and opportunit es offered to the young girls, and nized and met the need for a location with whichpeople coulc the two-generational nature of the effortrecognizing that the identify. It fostered in participantsa sense of belonging and. ulti- teens themselves, like their infants, were in the midst of rapid mately, ownership. It was called Our Houseand thatwas not developmental changes.Theprogram worked by paying atten- an accident. tion to the moms, the babies, and their relationship.

n FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16. NO. 3 23 A4 Agri Kids: Kids Learn Values While Strengthening Rural Economy

by William Green

"Bless this well and this crop to come." putting in about three hours at a stretch, receive grants so far. Thirteen more will More than 50 people stood near a well at often after school and on Saturdays. Each receive them soon, and ALFDC hopes to the edge of a 10-acre pea field. It was a is assigned rows, to teach them individual dispense the rest of the $80,000 by the end bright, warm, June morning in Pastoria, a responsibility and to make it easier to mea- of the year and then pursue more funds to little community north of Pine Bluff, in sure their progress. For environmental rea- meet the great need for irrigation. southeastern Arkansas. They had gathered sons, and because Edwards wants them to Calvin R. King Sr., Executive Director of to bless the new well installed for Agri know what vegetables really taste like, ALFDC, says Edwards's work "goes to the Kids, an effort to recruit young people into they use as few chemicals as possible. The heart of our mission to develop a new gen- agriculture to help carry on the vital tradi- Agri Kids are paid five dollars an hour and eration of small farmers." Many farmers tion of small farming. get to take much of what they harvest are now in their 60s or older and will soon "We thank you for the example of this home to their families; they sell some of retire. "We must develop young small project," continued Rev. Hank Wilkins IV, the produce to neighbors. farmers if we want to help carry on the pastor of St. James United Methodist Laron Edwards, Jamar's cousin, and sec- vital tradition of small farming in this Church, leading them in prayer. "Now, retary of Agri Kids, says they grow vegeta- country," says King. ALFDC and Agri bless this well, and this crop to come, that, bles because they know they can't competeKids are part of "a collaborative develop- in turn, others might be blessed also." with the large farmers in growing tradition- ment effort that involves community orga- al crops, which require much acreage and nizations and institutions, government Agri Kids: machinery. "We can come out here, plant agencies, local leaders and parents and Expert Farmers Teach Kids it, do it by hand, don't have to use big children, the kind of effort we must have Agri Kids was organized by Jimmie Lee equipment, and we can cultivate it, hoe andmore of if we're going to seriously reach Edwards, 61, of nearby Sherrill, an ener- rake it, pull cockleburswe as youth can the many people of limited resources in getic, recently retired agent of the do that." need of our help." ALFDC also helps Agricultural Extension Service at the Thomas Vaughns, a horticulturist who farmers improve the production capacity of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, to helped Edwards get started, adds that they their farms, which improves their incomes. teach children about agriculture and give chose peas because they're easy to grow Edwards and the children are members them a chance to earn money. It began and because "you can make good money of ALFDC, which enables them to get when she helped her grandson, Jamar, with with them if you do it halfway right." training by ALFDC and its partnerssuch a 4-H gardening project six years ago and as the University of Arkansas, which has grown from a "kinfolks thing" to a Collaboration to helped Edwards develop the farm and con- community project that has drawn more Promote Farming servation plans she needed to qualify for than 30 children from a number of com- With Agri Kids' crops suffering from the grant, and donated seed; and the munities in the region, many of them from lack of water, Edwards applied for and got USDA's Farm Service Agency. She also poor families. a $3,500 "cost-share" grant from the will receive training in bookkeeping. As a Edwards recruited others because they Arkansas Land and Farm Development member, Agri Kids is tied to a network of needed help, but also because of her long- Corporation (ALFDC) in Fargo so that a small farmer cooperatives that ALFDC time mission to encourage young people to well could be built. Edwards also spent helps to market crops. They participate in go into agriculture. "It's so vital to our $2,100 of her own money on the Agri Kids "field days" at the organization's 260-acre society," she said. "If they don't want to wellrather than spending it on her own demonstration farm. chop and dig, like we do, they can think soybeans and wheat crops, which desper- The turnout at Agri Kids' ceremony to about the technology side, how to make ately need irrigation. bless the well tells a lot about the project's crops better." Jamar jokes that when his ALFDC has worked since 1980 with collaborative roots: A long line of cars and grandmother was encouraging him to have community organizations and institutions, trucks bordered Agri Kids' neat, plowed a "hands-on experience, I never knew I government agencies, foundations, and pri- fields of peas, watermelon, and cantaloupe. would have my hands on so many hoes vate businesses and corporations, to pro- There were parents and other relatives of and rakes." vide a range of opportunities, services, and the children; representatives of ALFDC, The children range in age from five to support to small farmers and others of lim- the university, the Cooperative Extension their upper teens, and include both boys ited resources throughout the poverty- Service, and various USDA agencies; and girls. They plant, cultivate, and harvest stricken Delta and much of the state. State Sen. Jean Edwards; and others from a variety of peas, sweet potatoes, and ALFDC got an $80,000 grant last year the community. several other vegetables, learning the from the Natural Resources Conservation basics of farming on land that Jimmie Lee Service, an agency of the U. S. DepartmentAgri Kids Become Edwards and her husband, Jasper, leased of Agriculture, to pass on as cost-share Successful Adults and later bought. grants to struggling small farmers who Several of the project's early participants Agri Kids participants work from about need irrigation but can't get money from now are in their 20s, and many have gone May to the first frost, usually in October, banks. Edwards is one of eight people to on to high achievement in college. Rickey

24 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 J Jordan (Edwards calls him "a favorite appreciate work, how to discipline himself, William Green, of Little Rock, Arkansas, is a son"), did much of the plowing with his and how to be responsiblevalues that got longtime reporter who has worked in federal, tractor this year; another hitched a disk to him through his first year in medical state and local antipoverty programs and is a his four-wheeler to help; one became espe- school in Little Rock, when he had to communications consultant for private, non- cially adept at ripping out cockleburs, study "15, 16 hours a day." He spent this profit organizations. He can be reached at sinewy thistles that rob plants of sun and summer as in intern at the Henry Ford 501/664-2821 (phone), or at [email protected] (e-mail). nutrition. Edward's grandson Jamal now is Hospital in Detroit. president of Agri Kids and a fourth-genera- Jamar, who will be in the 10th grade next Arkansas Land and Farm Development tion farmer. year, knows what he wants to be: "An Corporation can be reached at Route 2, Box Rogerich Paylor, 23, joined Agri Kids in agronomist," he says with a big smile. "I 291, Brinkley, AR 72201, 501/734-1140. his teens and went on to graduate with believe if I stick with it, I can do it." honors from Morehouse College in Atlanta. He says the project taught him to

Cultivatinga Generation of Winners

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Edwards (right foreground), Stephens (of ALFDC, left background), and some of the Agri Kids flank the pipe that will carry 600 gallons per minute to irrigate peas and other vegetables.

.LA Paylor, a former Agri Kids participant who grad- uated from college with honors and is going to medical school, said the project taught him values that have helped him achieve as a student.

Edwards (with hoe) for years has encouraged young people to consider agriculture because "it's so vital Photos by William Green. to our society."

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By Lisbeth Schorr

Current community rebuilding counseling nearly 90 percent of the time. these initiatives may argue endlessly about efforts add up to an extraordi- There are signs that more and more com- how comprehensive an array of activities nary social development with munities all over the country are beginning an initiative has to be committed to in stunning implications for the future.' A to respond to deteriorating neighborhood order to call itself comprehensive, but the careful look at the evidence, from both conditions by blurring the sharp divisions crucial common principle seems to be that research and experience, suggests that among prevailing categorical programs and they all share a comprehensive mind-set. these efforts deserve far more attention among prevailing ideological divides. They distinguish between a comprehen- than they have been getting. The evidence Earlier arguments between the adherents ofsive mind-set and a comprehensive man- suggests we know enough about what economic versus behavioral explanations, date. A comprehensive mandate from the works in putting together effective inter- and between service-based or opportunity- funder, which includes a laundry list of ventions in targeted neighborhoods that based remedies, are beginning to subside separate programs and activities that the we could make comprehensive place-based nascent initiative is expected to launch all interventions into a promising at once, is not only overwhelming to response to the deepest problems of staffs and boards but makes it impos- America's inner cities. sible to respond to community needs Successful systematic efforts to and demands as they emerge. Harold change the circumstances of life in Richman, director of the Chapin Hill the inner city have several common Center for Children and co-chair of elements that are now widely the Roundtable for Comprehensive agreed upon. Community Initiatives, says that a comprehensive mandate can paralyze The Elements of Successful an initiative, force it into excessively Community-Rebuilding lengthy planning, or lead it to func- Initiatives The hallmark of the new tion at such a superficial level that it is entirely ineffective just community initiatives is the 1. Successful initiatives combine so it can say, yes, at least we've action in the economic, service, determination to go beyond picked something from column A, education, physical development, something from column B, and and community-building domains. fixing individual problems. something from column C. The hallmark of the new communi- The most promising initiatives all ty initiatives is the determination to useand are encouraged by their go beyond fixing individual prob- funders to usea comprehensive lems. They set out "to foster a fun- lens as they survey both problems damental transformation of poor and opportunities. They all under- neighborhoods, and of the circum- stand the necessity and the effective- stances and opportunities of indi- ness of working simultaneously on viduals and families who live economic and physical development, there." They reflect the conviction that as more people come to see these argu- service and educational reform, and com- past efforts have been fundamentally ments as unproductive and the either/or munity building. But they are strategic in flawed because they attempted to choices as moot. More recognize that the choosing where to begin, in sequencing address the many problems clustered well-being of children, families, and com- their activities, and in how much they take among people in poverty just one prob- munities are inseparable. People most con- on at once. lem at a time. cerned about the inadequate economic- opportunity structure, and people most 2. Successful initiatives rely on a commu- Even service agencies were finding that concerned about individual inadequacies nity's own resources and strengths as the services alone could not respond to many that make it impossible for those left foundation for designing change initia- families' most urgent needs. A 1991 survey behind to take advantage of whatever tives. Successful community-based of member agencies of Family Services of opportunities are available, are beginning change initiatives reflect the specific America found that while the problems to see it is no more productive to be blind assets, needs, institutional relationships, contributing to family distress overwhelm- to one as to the other. and power structures of individual com- ingly included housing, crime, poverty, and More and more initiatives are adopting munities. There is no model of neigh- difficulties at school, agencies responded a broad, non-categorical, non-ideological, borhood transformation that could be by offering the families psychological comprehensive approach. The leaders of applied everywhere. Designing the

FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL 16, NO. 3 27 00 neighborhood change effort to fit indi- in these communities to take on whatever Effective community building activities vidual communities is closely linked to agenda pops up." often bring the social control and nurtu- the process of community building. They seek to increase community effec- rance that can compete with gangs as a tiveness in securing public and private basis for social organization for young Community building, which has become goods and services allocated from outside people. By connecting adults with one such an important element of effective the neighborhood on grounds of equity and another and with youth, community-build- community initiatives, is more an orienta- expanding opportunity, as a means of ing activities such as mentoring and orga- tion than a technique, more a mission than empowering the community as a whole, nized supervision of afterschool and night- a program, more an outlook than an activi- and to assure that the neighborhood's resi- time educational and recreational programs ty. It catalyzes a process of change ground- dents will be prepared for employment, are able to strengthen informal social con- ed in local life and priorities. Community parenting, and otherwise to function in trols by building an extensive set of obliga- building addresses the developmental mainstream society. tions, expectations, and social networks. needs of individuals, families, and organi- Community building activities focus on zations within the neighborhood. It rebuilding the social fabric of the neigh- 3. Successful initiatives draw extensively changes the nature of the relationship on outside resources, including public between the neighborhood and the and private funds, professional exper- systems outside its boundaries. tise, and new partnerships that bring A community's own strengths clout and influence. If there seems to whether they are found in churches, be a contradiction between relying on clock clubs, local leadership, or its a local community's own resources problem-solving abilitiesare seen and strengths while drawing on out- as central. Community building is side resources, the paradox is more based on the belief that inner-city More and more communitiesall apparent than real. residents and institutions can and must be primary actors in efforts over the country arebeginning to Many problems facing inner-city to solve the problems of their residents arise from powerful eco- neighbor- neighborhoods. respond to deteriorating nomic forces and from deficien- In her report on community the cies in key public systems that building for the Rockefeller hood conditions by blurring originate far beyond the borders Foundation, Joan Walsh emphasizes sharp divisions amongprevailing cat- of distressed communities. That is that the community building move- why these neighborhoods cannot turn ment is resolutely inclusive and mul- egorical programs and among pre- themselves around without being able tiracial. She sees it as ".. as much to draw on funding, experience, an attempt to complete the business vailing ideological divides. expertise, and influence from outside of the civil rights movement as of the the neighborhood. War on Poverty." The alternative to leaving depleted neighborhoods entirely on their own The meanings of community build- is not to revert back to a discredited ing are and will continue to be many model of dictating change from the and varied. They include efforts to top down. Effective interventions create "a political impact on large imper- borhood to provide residents with the ben- aimed at transforming neighborhoods sonal forces," as the Empowerment Zones efits of community, which John Gardner require a new relationship between are trying to do to make up for the loss of defines as "security, a sense of identity and insiders and outsiders that allows for the industrial jobs, and as DSNI was able to belonging, a framework of shared assump- flow of information and wisdom to go in stop Boston trash haulers from dumping tions and values, a network of caring indi- both directions. trash in its neighborhood. They also viduals, the experience of being needed ... Potential sources of outside help are try- include efforts to enhance "the capacity of and responding to need." The strategies for ing to get beyond past misunderstandings individuals to believe that they can change operationalizing this goal vary, but all "aim about what they can usefully contribute. the course of their own lives by their own to increase the density of social interaction Many had earlier taken a posture that efforts," as when neighborhood residents and communication in the service of neigh- implied, "If you don't want us to tell you make decisions as part of a neighborhood borhood improvement." what to do, OK, we're out of here. If you governance entity. They all have in com- Efforts to reduce social disorder and reject our mandates, we won't offer you our mon the recognition that because the prob- physical "incivilities," such as broken win- wisdom. If you reject our agenda, we won't lems of individuals and families from the dows, trash, public drinking, and prostitu- offer you our assistance." Outsiders are inner city did not arise in isolation from tion, are also part of community building. learning that while there is very little that neighborhood conditions, addressing these They are undertaken in the expectation of they can usually mandate, they have a great problems requires strengthening the norms, improving directly the quality of neighbor- deal to offer in a two-way relationship. supports, and problem-solving resources hood life and of discouraging potential Among the most useful functions that that link individuals to one another and to offenders who may be deterred by the outsiders are now performing in support institutions of their community. They all knowledge that residents are battling dete- of community-based initiatives are agree, in the words of one community rioration and are not indifferent to what the following: activist, that "community building is the goes on in the neighborhood. long-term agenda of building the capacity

28 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 They provide funding. They aim to ventions to control violence and disorder opportunities to learn and to succeed, and make their money available in amount and and to assure public safety are not only provide them with opportunities to form under conditions that are reasonably relat- essential to successful community build- sustained and trusting relationships with ed to the objectives to be achieved. That ing, but must be put in place at an early caring adults. means making funds available early in the stage, because violence and disorder often A last example of a plausible theory of process, and for a sufficiently long and produce barriers of distrust among neigh- change has to do with the intensity and predictable period. It also means making bors, prevent families from entering into scope of the intervention. Many informed funding available in support of non-cate- the life of the community, and drive out theobservers believe that to transform com- gorical activities (such as management, middle-class home owners and elderly resi- munities of concentrated disadvantage, planning, and interdisciplinary training). dents who may be left in a deteriorating investments and strategies for change must They provide clout that can remove or neighborhood. By reducing neighborhood be mobilized at a high level of intensity. reduce obstacles (political, bureaucratic, violence and disorder it is possible to They believe that interventions applied in regulatory) that have interfered with the increase parental effectiveness and resident the usual small doses are unlikely to be design and implementation of a coherent participation, lower the stress and uncer- effective. Wrote Herbert Stein, chairman of set of interventions. Outsiders can tainty of daily life, and increase the eco- the Council of Economic Advisers in the offer political influence and connec- Nixon and Ford administrations: tions to decision makers, inaccessible "The streets may need to become to purely bottom-up efforts, especially not a little safer, but much safer in mobilizing additional resources. before investment is attracted [to depleted neighborhoods]. A big pro- They provide technical assistance. gram may be much more effective They may help initiatives to arrange per dollar and per unit of effort than training for staff in community build- a little one." ing, new forms of professional prac- Each of these theories is, of course, tice, and program management. They Community building is basedon the totally compatible with the others, are able to mobilize and broker need- and all five could be utilized by a ed expertise, especially when it falls belief that inner-city residentsand single initiative. All five are plau- within a single domain. sible, and therefore useful. There is a broad consensus around institutions can and must be prima- Progress among community ini- the three common elements of suc- tiatives would occur more rapidly cessful community initiatives I have ry actors in efforts to solve the and more predictably if people work- just described. I believe that success- problems of their neighborhoods. ing in individual neighborhoods ful initiatives also share a fourth ele- could draw on a rich collection of ment, one around which there is less rigorous knowledge, gleaned from consensus: both research and experience. Such a knowledge base could help local 4. Effective initiatives are designed people in making judgments to dis- and operated on the basis of one or tinguish plausible from implausible _more_plausible_theories_of change. theories, promising_from_wipromis- Plausible theories of change cover a ing theories, and likely from unlikely wide range of possibilities, but all con- nomic viability of the area by making it links between activities and outcomes. nect activities or interventions with more attractive to investors. It is extremely important for the further important outcomes. Systematic collec- Another theory of change found in many development of comprehensive community tions of theories of change illuminate community-building activities: When resi- initiatives that the most knowledgeable and what is worth doing, shed light on dents of depleted neighborhoods undertake thoughtful participants and observers of the promising ways to sequence efforts, can activities that perceptibly change the con- process not shy away from trying to suggest what is not worth doing, and ditions of their lives (getting a new traffic uncover and synthesize as much informa- help participants to inject intentionality light installed or closing down the hated tion as possibleand then draw general- and purpose into their activities. trash-transfer stations), they gain a sense ofizations from it. The funders, designers, increased "intentionality," the conviction and operators of these initiatives should be Says one CCI director, enunciating a that they can change the course of their able to draw on the greatest possible body plausible theory of change, "I've really lives by their own efforts. That increases of relevant and accessible knowledge so come to believe that jobs are the key, and their effectiveness as parents, helps them that their own local decision making that everything we do has to be organized support their children's efforts to succeed becomes as highly informed and strategic around pathways to work pathways that at school, and is more likely to make them as it is possible to make it. start as far back as prenatal care and school part of an informal social networks that readiness, but that ultimately connect up build social capital. Notes with increasing the number of young adults Another plausible theory of change con- 'This article excerpted with the publisher's permission that are productively employed." nects improved outcomes for adolescents, from Schorr, L B. (1997) Common purpose: including lower rates of teenage childbear- Strengthening families and neighborhoods to rebuild Another plausible theory of change is America. New York: Doubleday. 359-368. Available from one distilled by an evaluator of several ing and youth crime, and higher rates of FRCA, 312/338-0900. comprehensive community-based initia- school success, with schools that maintain tives. She has concluded that direct inter- high standards, offer youngsters diverse

° 0 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 29 Job Skills Aren't Enough Success Leaving Welfare Means Work Skills and Family Support

by John F. Else

jane Smith has been doing carpentry that this new person will not feel the same ISED has a statewide program operated "on the side" for some time, but since about them. from six branch offices and a network of enrolling in the Institute for Social and Furthermore, they may experience her consultants, and in two regions it has oper- Economic Development's (ISED) busi- success as an implicit judgment on their ated demonstration programs with family ness training, she has made home repair lack of success. The unspoken message support agencies. Every participant in the into a full-time business. Soon she will be they project as coming from her is, "If I microenterprise training received intensive earning enough to leave welfare. The train- can make it, why don't you get out and do family support services. Although funding ing taught her how to bid on jobs so that something for yourself?" for that partnership ended several years she covers not just her direct labor, but all The Institute for Social and Economic ago, ISED tries to ensure that trainers in all of the associated indirect time, overhead Development (ISED) assists individuals areas of the state are familiar with the costs, and unanticipated risks. After finish- and families in developing microenterpris- resources in each community and that they ing today's job, she goes home and fixes es to enable them to be economically self- have made personal contact so that the dinner for the kids. Her abusive husband, sufficient. ISED has learned from experi- family support agency is aware of the from whom she is separated, stops by; an ence that successful community economic microenterprise program. Consequently, argument ensues, and he beats her and development involves both (1) recognition they are able to make referrals effectively steals her tools from her pick-up. of the need to address self-esteem and when they see a need. Sally Jones has just landed her first con- other personal issues of individuals who tract with a companyto provide 15- engage in business development and Microenterprise Training: minute, in-office neck and shoulder mas- employment activities (2) awareness of and What Is It? sages at a law firm. She is thrilled: this ability to cope with the interpersonal tidal Most participants in ISED's microenter- contract will provide a solid stream of waves set in motion by people's transitions prise training program are welfare recipi- income and could open the door to other to economic independence. Moving into ents and other low-income individuals who firms, and she will soon be able to say the economic mainstream is often a huge would rather work for themselves than for good-bye to welfare. That night she visits astep for an individual. It requires that indi- someone else. Unfortunately, they have lit- friend to share the good news. When she viduals deal with their own family histo- tle exposure to business ownership or man- leaves her friend's home after a hour, her ries, personal patterns, and "scripts." It alsoagement. They need a training program that carwith her $600 massage stool in itis has impacts on family systems and com- helps them transform their dreams into missing. She suspects her boyfriend, who munity systems. This article will share how financially feasible business plans. They has a key to her car, of taking the car and ISED's business development staff, partly need to start with the most basic business her equipment. through linkages with family support agen- concepts and move through defining their When individuals are successful in their cies, has addressed both the personal issues market, researching the market, analyzing movement toward economic independence, and larger system issues of those seeking the likely income and expenses, developing they grow in self-confidence and personal to leave welfare. cash flow and profit and loss projections, independence. However, as the vignettes determining the minimal capital needs above illustrate, their belief in themselves Linkages with Family Support required for operating the business effec- and their ability to make it in the world of Resources tively, and preparing a marketing plan. work is often frightening and threatening Policymakers and professionals struggle While many organizations offer one-day to friends and family. Sabotage by part- with questions of how to tie business business seminars, there are few sources for nersas well as other family members, development and employment services to this kind of comprehensive training. friends, and neighborsis a common family support services. Some believe that Participants need a strengths-oriented, response to the success and increasing the basic orientations and professional adult education approach to training that independence of women who have been skills needed for the two functions are demystifies business and helps people dis- welfare-dependent. similar, and that the same professional cover (or rediscover) their knowledge and Partners, family, and friends often feel can provide both services. But ISED's skills. The circumstances that created their neglected as a woman focuses more and experience with microenterprise develop- current financial distress have often result- more of her time and energy on her busi- ment shows that the two are quite different,ed in a loss of self-esteem and self-confi- ness or her work. They fear the loss of her and that while the skills of economic dence. The most important ingredient to companionship if she doesn't "need" them development staff and those of social building self-esteem and self-confidence is anymore. As they observe changes in her services staff must be coordinated, they having successes. ISED's training curricu- posture, her walk, the way she dresses, and must be kept separate. lum has a series of exercises and home- what she talks about, they feel like she is ISED forms linkages with family support work assignments that give participants a becoming a different person, and they fear resources in the communities it serves. chance to discover how much they know

0 '7 30 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 z

11.11_ and to demonstrate what they can do. For exceptions, of course, ISED's experience isipants will be addressing. Though we example, by the time they have finished that when people have a series of success- expect the trainers to be sensitive and their business plans, the participants have es, their self-esteem is restored and that committed to the participants, they are prepared profit and loss projections and self-esteem is then reflected in how they not trained nor expected to be family sup- cashilow_projectionsdocuments that care for and-present-themselves. port workers. most MBAs and even most business owners could not prepare. Role of the Business Trainer Conclusion The training also encourages participants Microenterprise programs vary in their Community economic development to examine their own financial manage- expectations of the role of trainers. Some results in complex transitions for individu- ment and to make plansas practice for programs expect their trainers to be both als, and these have impacts on their part- the financial management of their busi- business developers and social workers. ners, children, extended families, and nesses. It requires participants to be realis- That is not ISED's model. ISED expects friends. Their responses often undermine tic. If they want financing, they know they its staff to be highly skilled business train- the efforts of business development and will have M defend their business plan ers who are sensitive to the needs of the employment programs. The success of before a commercial banker and demon- special populations we serve and commit- these programs depends on their taking strate an ability to follow it. ted to helping them succeed as business into account not only the special needs of Most important, the trainers convey from owners. The trainers often go beyond the the people they serve, but also the social the first day their belief that the partici- traditional responsibilities of a trainer. contexts within which they live. This can pants are competent human beings who areThey often discuss personal problems with be done both in the design of the programs capable of being business owners. I have participants and help them think about themselves and in their linkages, formal observed lob readiness" training pro- solutions. The trainers usually have consid-and informal, to family support resources grams in which the trainer explains the erable life experience, including both suc- in the community. importance of personal hygiene and proper cesses and failures, to share with the par- clothes, and yet engages participants in ticipants. Most important, however, ISED John Else is President of the Institute for exercises that are supposed to increase selects trainers who are going to bring Social and Economic Development, 1901 self-esteem. It struck me that nothing is business expertise to the participants. We Broadway, Suite 313, Iowa City, IA 52240- more damaging to self-esteem than to select people who have owned small busi- 9822, 319/338-2331 (phone), 319/338-5824 assume that people do not know how to nesses themselves and have struggled per- (fax). bathe and dress properly. Though there are sonally with the very issues that the partic-

BEST COPY MIA LE FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997 VOL. 16, NO. 3 3 I NI I H OW O u t. re a c h Workers Mothers in Poverty Gain Skills and Help Each Other

By Judy Matthews-Taylor, Barbara Clinton, and Carole Manny

children in low-income rural families. of the high-risk adolescents, promoted Empowerment of individualsoutreach a higher level of prenatal care, and pro- workers, family members, and local produced pregnancy outcomes comparable gram directorsleads to community to the professionals.' empowerment. This "can-do" attitude often Since MIHOW provides extensive train- iR internal infant I cut Outreach Wurher Project broadens to embrace issues such as the ing and the outreach workers are super- environment, economic conditions, and vised locally, there are no specific educa- people's ability to control their lives tional requirements, although some do ance labeled a "slow learner" through individual advocacy and commu- have professional degrees. Their experi- and placed in special educa- nity action. ences in MIHOW often provide the self- tion classes, Pat Haynes now Minnie Bommer became aware of the esteem and the motivation for them to con- leads a county-wide immunization drive serious lack of services in her community tinue their education. and presents workshops on self-esteem. for low-income children with disabilities Diane Wynn was hired as a full-time The first African American to graduate after beginning her work with MIHOW. home visitor at a western Tennessee site. from her local community college as a On her own time, she worked with a com- She attributes her personal and profession- licensed practical nurse, Minnie Bommer mittee of concerned parents to start an al growth to this opportunity. "My experi- also was the first woman elected to her agency, Children and Family Services, for ence as a home visitor gave me more city council. With two small children to this population. Later, when the clinic awareness of what was out there in the raise alone, Diane Wynn took night classessponsoring MIHOW in Haywood County community, what could be accessed. It for eight years to gain an associate's lost it federal funding and was closed, helped me decide on my work goals." degree, and now is pursuing her bache- Children and Family Services assumed Caring about the families she served was lor's. Beginning as a clerical worker at sponsorship of the MIHOW project, allow- an important motivation for her to attend an Appalachian clinic, Kern Short has ing services to continue uninterrupted. college. "Being a MIHOW outreach work- become a licensed social worker and Bommer became the first woman elected er gave me more awareness of what I did- dedicated community activist, organizing to the city Board of Alderman in n't know," she said. Wynn's desire to learn a large-scale semi-annual gathering of Covington, then went on to serve children more about people with low self-esteem mountain women. at the state level as a member of the led her to study of psychology at The common thread uniting these women Tennessee Commission on Children and Dyersburg State Community College, is that, prior to these achievements, each Youth, and chair of the Early Childhood for which she received an associate's was recruited by MIHOWthe Maternal Planning Committee of the State Board degree last spring. "I probably wouldn't and Infant Health Outreach Worker of Education. have gone to college if I hadn't worked as project.' Building on their energy, talent, Outreach workers recruited by MIHOW, a home visitor. It was a stepping-stone." and commitment, MIHOW trains local then, are a familiar with their community Wynn plans to return to school this fall women to teach their peers about prenatal and its informal helping network and are to pursue a bachelor's degree at the care, infant development, and related top- likely to know or hear about high-risk University of Memphis.° ics through a home visiting program. pregnant women. They have the personali- Wynn's growth is similar to that of her Because MIHOW outreach workers know ty, experience, and reputation that enable peers, as noted by Gingman in a review of their rural communities well, care about them to reach out to others, to be seen training for MIHOW outreach workers.: helping people, and are experienced moth- as knowledgeable mothers and trust- er, they are an ideal support system for worthy confidantes. [T]heir experiences had mean mothers who are poor, stressed, or geo- Numerous studies cite the reasons for increased confidence in themselves graphically and socially isolated. using paraprofessionals in working with and their abilities. For most there Indigenous Women hard-to-reach populations. These include was less isolation and more interac- the peer-to-peer relationship built on tion with other people. They all a Powerful Resource shared background, empathy and credibili- talked about personal growth and MIHOW recognized that despite the ty with families, knowledge of local condi- seemed to have an expanded sense of poverty of rural Appalachian and tions and customs, and the benefits to the themselves and what they might do. Mississippi's Delta communities, indige- individual and community. A 1994 study Each woman also spoke in some way nous local women are a great untapped compared the effectiveness of home visi- of an increased sense of being able resource. In fact, building local leadership tors in the Norfolk Resource Mother's to help other people and contribute is the foundation of the MIHOW program Program with a traditional, clinic-based to the community and of commitment model for community development.' The program using health professions. The to do this! MIHOW program helps women improve home visitors reached a higher percentage the health and development of mothers and

3 3 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 32 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 k, Kentucky, Mark East, and his wife Angela, a registered nurse. The couple recognized Haynes as an indigenous healer with sensi- tivity, a love of children, and an understanding of the community. They, along with others at Mercy Mission, convinced Haynes to work with families in their MIHOW program. Haynes began as a VISTA, receiving training in health education, child development, and parenting skills. She discovered her natural ability to teach others and c) found it easy to relate to the mothers she helps. "I meet moms that are down and out like I was in the past, with nobody to talk oto." A former abused wife, Haynes tells the u mothers she works with, "I've been kicked. I've been beaten. I've been through the welfare system just like you have, but I Training as a Community will have significant payoffs in later school came out of that, and you can, too." Pat and work success, adding to the strength ofHaynes is now a full-time home visitor Development Technique who ended her two-year VISTA service by MIHOW recognizes that the continuing the community generation by generation. As Diane Wynn expresses it, "The infor- leading an inspirational MIHOW training professional development of its outreach workshop on self-esteem entitled "Color workers strengthens the individual, the mation that we [outreach workers] give helps the community. By starting with the Me Proud, Strong, and Capable." She program, and the community. Thus, received a standing ovation.6 monthly in-service training, continuing health of children, you impact the commu- education, and career advancement oppor- nity as a whole. Children will grow up to Notes tunities are all important components. run that community." The evidence supporting the long-term 'There are 18 MIHOW sites located in Arkansas, As a major part of the effort to enable Kentucky,Tennessee, and West Virginia.This network of women to think and act for themselves, benefits to the local populations MIHOW community-based organizations works in partnership MIHOW trainers model the behavior that serves is anecdotal, but plentiful The with each other and with the Center for Health they hope to encourage in outreach. work- underlying theme is heightened sense of Services at Vanderbilt University, which provides train- potential for oneself and for the communi- ing and technical support to get programs started, ers and participant mothers. Therefore, then provides ongoing assistance. Each project, howev- MIHOW training sessions are designed to ty. "If you better yourself, you will better er, must be "owned" and sponsored by a local, grass- be democratic, collaborative, inclusive, your community," says Wynn. "You might roots agency. flexible, and creative. Going beyond rote go on to be a city council member of another kind of community leader. 'Clinton, B., and M. Lamer (1988) "Rural community learning, MIHOW training emphasizes women as leaders in health outreach.' Journal of skill building in communication and active Working with families makes you more Primary Prevention. 9(112). I 20- I.29._ listening, and encourages the outreach aware of yourself afd) your community." workers to become partners in the learning A similar personal and professional trans- Nines, G., M. Komefal,W. Pindur, and P Kim (1994) and teaching by sharing their own experi- formation has taken place for Kem Short. "Community-based perinatal care for disadvantaged Beginning as a clerical worker at Tug adolescents: Evaluation of the Resource Mother ences and strategies. Through this training Program." Journal of Community Health 19(1). 4 I -53. approach, outreach workers can increase River Health Association in Gary, Short's self-esteem, enhance interpersonal skills, interest in families and children led her to 'Wynn, D. (1997) Telephone interview, June 12. and begin a career development path. apply for an outreach worker position. She was hired in 1982, and since that time has 5Bingman, M. (199 I) Mountain women learning. After MIHOW's spring 1996 training, Unpublished manuscript one outreach worker commented, "This earned a social work degree and has was my first training of this kind and I become and ICEA-certified childbirth edu- 'Gay, K (1996) "VISTA volunteer Pat Haynes: found it motivating and educational. I cator. Her supervisor, Frankie Patton A MIHOW success story" The MIHOW Networker, loved every minute." Said another, "I was Rutherford, has witnessed at close hand the spring. 4-5. impressed at the intelligence of each leader positive changes in Short's lifechanges that affect the community as a whole. She Judy Matthews-Taylor is a Resource Specialist and speaker, along with them being down- for MIHOW, Center for Health Services, to-earth people." Most of the trainers were observes, "Kem's self-esteem has really Vanderbilt University Medical Center from the MIHOW networkoutreach developed and she has become an empow- Nashville, TN 37232-8160, 615/322-4184 workers, VISTA Volunteers, or staff ered woman and an enabler of other (phone), 615/343-0325 (fax). rather than outside "experts." women. Where I have seen the most growth with Kem is around the whole are Barbara Clinton is Director of the Center for Benefit to the Community of social justice and her avid belief that all Health Services at Vanderbilt University. people deserve a minimum standard of liv- MIHOW is one of three projects of the Center. A direct benefit of the MIHOW program ing and her willingness to work and fight Carole Manny is a VISTA Volunteer with the to the community's socioeconomic devel- for that." MIHOW Project. opment involves the families the home vis- Pay Haynes, the "slow learner," eventu- itors reach. The local investment in chil- ally came into contact with the MIHOW dren's health and educational environment Director of Mercy Mission in Middlesboro, iiESI COPYAVAILABLE FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997 VOL. 16, NO. 3 33 ...A4 Groceries and Job Training for a Community Highland Food Cooperative Is Part of Family Services Continuum etc.) for the co-op to distribute free to its stores, job interviews, GED classes, the target community, and the co-op has been Employment Security Commission, job Highland Food approached by other food distributors who sites, and other places. Cooperative wish to do the same. Drop-In Center: Children participate in The Highland Food Cooperative's Sweat Program of The well-planned, developmentally appropriate Highland Family Resource Center Equity Program functions as on-the-job activities while their parents are participat- training. Over a two-week period, partici- ing in programs and services at HFRC. Highland Food Cooperative assists pants learn managerial skills and how to families in Gastonia, N.C., in operate the cash register, stock shelves, and Computer Classes: Participants learn meeting two major needs: jobs take inventory. They earn $15 worth of basic computer skills, how to type (key- and food. The cooperative fills out a menu groceries for every three hours they work boarding), and how to use different soft- of programs offered by the Highland at the store. During this time, the store ware packages. Family Resource Center (HFRC), which manager contacts local businesses to ask enables Highland community residents who about job openings, to get the names of Office Skills Training: Participants learn receive public assistance to become eco- contact people, and to find out, for exam- how to file and answer the phone, and nomically self-sufficient. how to use office machinery like stamp A dedicated board of directorsrepresen- meters, photocopiers, and fax machines. tatives from local government agencies, Healthy Lifestyle Workshops: A nurse churches, businesses, and organizations, provides health education workshops and one third of them residing in the Highland conducts support and wellness groups, communityand other community leaders 140 well check-ups, and home visits. 00 I r, conceived the idea of a community a gro- )01.14 cery store that would provide opportunities Adolescent Substance Abuse for job training and earning groceries Prevention Program: A substance abuse through a "sweat equity program." They educator meets with high school students hired a store manager/job developer to every Monday after school to them teach implement the program, and on October 12, about the consequences of drug use, how 1996, the cooperative held an open house to abstain from drugs, and how to cope attended by more than 300 people, includ- with peer pressure. ing many dignitaries and legislators. Media GED Classes: Tutors from Gaston coverage was extensive, with one local TV ple, how many hours of cash register train- College provide tutoring in English, Math, station carrying the story for four days. ing someone would need to work in a par- Science, History and Literature from 10 The Highland Family Resource Center ticular store. When the participants have am to 12 p.m., Monday through Friday. (HFRC) is funded by the North Carolina completed their training, the manager Department of Human Resources/Division assists them in locating employment. To Life Skills Workshops: In collaboration of Child Development. This neighborhood date, 17 people have been placed in jobs at with local agencies, workshops are pro- of 6,250 households was chosen as the site grocery stores, department stores, etc., vided in parenting, job readiness, budget- of the co-op because there is little commu- after completing the program. ing, food and nutrition, stress manage- nity infrastructure (such as clinics, banks, In addition to job skills, participants ment, and HIV prevention. grocery stores, transportation, etc.). Since acquire other skills they will need to Parents' Fun Night: A family specialist 1993 HFRC's mission has been to support become marketable. The store manager conducts a six week program for parents and strengthen Highland families and otherconducts job readiness workshops in which with children ages 0-5, using the Parents participants by collaborating with existing participants develop skills in writing As Teachers curriculum. agencies to ensure that families receive résumés and thank-you letters, dressing for comprehensive services; HFRC's holistic interviews, etc. The manager also provides Special Events/Trips/Outings: Special model of service addresses education, emotional support, escorting some partici- activities such as trips for children and employment, health, housing, and pants to job interviews and following up parents, family activities, and traditional skills training. with everyone who gets a job to offer help. seasonal events are planned throughout On occasion, a trainer from the Employ- the year. Food and Job Training ment Security Commission provides sup- For more information, contact Highland The Highland Food Cooperative current- plemental instruction on job search skills Family Resource Center, 301 N. Highland ly is open Monday through Friday from and placement. Street, Gastonia, NC 28052. one to five o'clock p.m., and stocks only canned goods. But the long-term goal is to Part of a Range of Services become a full-scale grocery store. North HFRC also offers: Carolina Harvest donates perishable foods Transportation services: Participants (e.g., potatoes, vegetables, fruits, bagels, receive rides to doctor's clinics, grocery ::2)

34 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16. NO. 3 Focuson Whole Family Ma Ices NIVelfa.re-to-Work Succeed Cleveland Works, Ohio by Anthony Williams

Since the introduction of federal welfare reform legislation, it has been a credo of many who work with families that success in the workplace relies not just on job skills, but on support for families, including help accessing childcare, transportation, and substance abuse treatment, and strategies to address community- wide problems. One program in particular helps advocates of a more comprehensive welfare-to- work approach make their case: Cleveland Works. Part of the Clinton Administration's welfare-to-work partnership program, Cleveland Works delivers "one-stop" job training, job placement, and comprehensive family services free of charge to people seeking permanent employment and a higher quality of life. The program provides area employers with trained workers to fill their job openings. Many of these employers also underwrite the expenses of on-the- job training. Cleveland Works participants take part in multiple skill-building services and activities throughout the day. Going to the program each day is good practice in itself; participants who have been out of the work force for a long time benefit from getting into a routine. Cleveland Works offers: Job preparation (job readiness, basic edu- I cation, personal development, occupa- tional skills, business skills training, and customized training) Legal services (education, counseling, and advocacy) A pre-trial diversion and alternative sen- tencing project (for unemployed or marginally employed adult felony offenders) Family development (on-site childcare, information on child development and family management issues, and preven- tative health care education) Cleveland Works provides participants with something that is as important as these program components, although you won't find it on any list:

JEST COPY AVM BLE FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 35 Participants develop a sense of the "big The program seeks to provide its pro- Lessons Learned picture" and their own role in determining grams to anyone who wants to participate. What can Cleveland Works teach about the futures of their families. Whether get- In the beginning, Cleveland Works served the nexus between family support and ting help navigating the legal system or any person who walked through its doors. community economic development? Its registering to vote (Cleveland Works leads Its initial success attracted various funding method of measuring total family helps us the area in conducting voter registration), streams, which imposed eligibility require- answer questions such as "How is success participants become empowered to deter- ments on participants. The program's measured?" and "What does progress look mine what they can do to produce desire- response has been to try to diversify its like?" with regard to programs involved in able outcomes for themselves, their fami- funding base and attract more private both family support and economic devel- lies, and their communitiesand to take sources of capital, including corporate and opment. Cleveland Works shows how a action based on those plans. foundation support. program can place equal value on econom- The program is built on the notion that Turnover is low among Cleveland ic development outcomes and family sup- people want to workand will, given the Works' staff of approximately 20. More port outcomes by measuring its success by properly structured opportunity. Executive than one third are Cleveland Works gradu- looking at the betterment of the family. director David Roth says Cleveland Works ates, and about one half have worked for Cleveland Works sees family support as is "dedicated to doing whatever it takes to the organization since its inception. The more than just a means to the end of fami- help all kinds of people 'work' their way low turnover and large draw from former ly self-sufficiency, and it sees economic out of poverty and achieve a better life participants means Cleveland Works development as more than just a means to through full-time employment with good spends less time orienting staff to its the end of economic self-sufficiency. The wages and health benefits." approach, and adds continuity and stability program's impact becomes clear when we to the program's efforts. Moreover, a firm As of July 1997: compare a child growing up in a home and committed staff contributes to the inte- with working parents to a child of parents 7,803 welfare recipients have enrolled in gration of services and facilitates a more receiving public assistance. It becomes Cleveland Works comprehensive response to families. clear when a parent discovers the opportunity and hope afforded by a paycheck. 5,555 (71 percent) have completed the required training regimen The Employers Currently, the demand for employees in Anthony Williams is Director of Strategic 9,559 jobs have been posted with Cleveland is greater than the supply of Planning and Special Projects for the Family Cleveland Works by over 650 employers qualified Cleveland Works graduates. Resource Coalition of America. in the Greater Cleveland area Word-of-mouth advertising has been the 2,400 of the program's graduates (45 per- most effective strategy of recruiting poten- cent) have been hired tial employers; employers have told their colleagues of their satisfaction with the hir- Most importantly, eight out of 10 pro- ing graduates of the program. gram graduates hired did not return to Cleveland Works treats both program public assistance participants and employers as customers. Despite the encouraging statistics, Staff constantly survey employers to learn Cleveland Works does not define its what skills are in demand; then they tailor success by quantity of placements. Rather, their programs to teach those skills. In staff and participants focus on measures addition, to reduce risk to employers and to of employees' quality of life, including encourage employer participation, experiences with work, family, and the Cleveland Works will keep employees on community. In short, the success of the its own payroll during the a three-month employee depends on the success of his period of on-the-job training if the employ- or her family and community. If evaluation er is unwilling to underwrite the cost of of a participating family does not show such training. that family is better off, then the program has not succeeded.

36 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 Microenterprise !Development An Economic EmpowermentStrategy for Low-Income Families and Communities

by Salome Raheim

Margaret, a 38-year-old single woman with one child, had been on and off AFDC for more than 11 years before enrolling in a microenterprise development program. At the time of enrollment, her child was 12 years old and AFDC was her primary source of income. Her job was a secondary source of income, and she also received child support. After completing 14 weeks of business training and a business plan, she opened a video rental store with a $5,000 Self- Employment Investment Demonstration (SEID) loan. Subsequently, she received a $6,000 business loan from a local bank. After five years of operation, her gross business income is $41,000 and expenses total $15,000, leaving a net income of , $26,000. She pays herself a regular wage of $750 per month. Her business owns $83,330 in assets, including a $50,000 building, $28,000 of inventory and materials, and $1,400 of equipment. Business lia- bilities total $41,000. Margaret says her life is different now than before she enrolled in the microenter- -prise program-and started-a-business. She finds life financially more rewarding; she can afford items she could not before; she feels much more successful; and her income, housing, relationship with her ports "the creation and strengthening Currently over 260 organizations in the child, health, and self-esteem are better of small business as a strategy to raise United States operate microenterprise than before. While prior to the program she incomes, enhance family economic self- development programs, including commu- did not have much confidence about being sufficiency, create jobs and strengthen nity development corporations, community able to reach her goals and control her local economic development."' With action organizations, women's economic future, she is now confident that she can. origins in developing countries of Africa, development organizations, and communi- Margaret's experience is similar to that Asia, and Latin America, this strategy ty colleges. While intervention models dif- of many individuals who have participated has been implemented in the United fer, programs all include one or more of in microenterprise development programs States over the last ten years with the following components: notable success.' across the United States. Participants have 1. Group business training started every imaginable kind of business, In the United States, a variety of state including child care, desktop publishing, and federal agencies have funded microen- 2. Individual technical assistance with janitorial services, welding repair, pet terprise projects, including the Department business operations shops, and raising piglets. While not every of Health and Human Services, the 3. Assistance with securing business business has been a success story, there are Department of Housing and Urban many that have been. Development, and the Department of financing from local banks or programs' revolving loan funds Microenterprise development is among Labor.' Projects have also been funded by the most innovative strategies currently private organizations, including the Components available in some programs employed to assist poor families and com- BankAmerica Foundation, The Ford but not in others are family support ser- munities improve their economic well- Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, vices (i.e., family development) and peer being. Microenterprise development sup- the Ms. Foundation, and the Charles lending, a group lending option for access- Steward Mott Foundation. ing business capital.' Microenterprise

BEST COPY AVAILABLE FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997VOL. 16, NO. 3 37 development programs may focus on creat- demonstrated success in facilitating the Raheim, S.(/ 997) "Problems and prospects of self- employment as an economic independence option for ing new businesses through self-employ- start and growth of small businesses welfare recipients." Social Work 42 (I) 44-53. ment or other small-scale enterprises (i.e., among disadvantaged groups, especially businesses with five or fewer employees). women and people of color.' 'U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Programs may also help strengthen or Self-employment programs for welfare Office of Community Services, Family Support recipients and other low-income people Administration (1990, 1994) Demonstration Partnership expand existing businesses. The self- Program. Summaries and findings, FY 1987 and FY 1990. employment approach to microenterprise can increase access to capital through pro- Demonstration Partnership Program Projects. development involves helping individuals gram loan funds and facilitating relation- (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office); create jobs for themselves by starting a ships with local banks." Aspen Systems Corporation (1993) business. The business strengthening or Microenterprise development promotes Creating economic lift jobs, training, and business opportunities in public and Indian housing (Rockville growth approach focuses on helping an asset accumulation. Program participants MD, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban existing small business to stabilize finan- who open businesses are likely to experi- Development); cially, preventing closure and job loss, and ence a significant increase their personal on increasing the income of the entrepre- and business assets.14 Benus, J.,T. Johnson, M. Wood, N. Grover, and T. Shen neur and employees. The business expan- AFDC income and asset waivers were (1995) Self-employment programs:A new reemployment strategy, final report on the UI Self-Employment sion approach helps a small business an important factor in the ability of AFDC Demonstration. Unemployment Insurance Occasional increase its operations to create one or recipients to start businesses. Participants Paper 95-4. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of more new jobs. receiving public assistance reported Labor Employment and Training Administration Studies of microenterprise programs needing waivers to prevent reduction Unemployment Insurance Service. and Drury D., S. Walsh, and M. Strong (1994) Evaluation of the EDWAA have shown that this strategy can promote of their grants due to business income and Job Creation, Demonstration. U.S. Department of Labor, the economic empowerment of families, assets acquired during their first year of Employment Training Administration: Washington, D.C. including those receiving public assistance. business operation.' Findings from some of these studies are Human service providers and policy mak- °The Aspen Institute (1996) Directory of U.S. ers are challenged now more than ever to microenterprise programs, 1996. (Washington, D.C.: noted below: The Self-Employment Learning Project, The Aspen Self-employment is a viable economic pursue strategies that will economically Institute). independence strategy for a small, but empower low-income families, especially important number of low-income and those receiving public assistance. The 5Benus et al. (1994); Clark and Huston (1993); Raheim, unemployed people.' Through self-employ-Personal Responsibility and Work S. (1995) "Self-employment training and family devel- Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 opment: An integrated strategy for family empowerment, individuals can create jobs for them- ment" In K Nelson and P Adams (Eds.), Reinventing selves that generate sufficient income to creates an urgent need to identify and Human Services (pp. 127-143). Hawthorne, New York become independent of public assistance.' implement interventions that will help poor Aldine de Gruyter. Raheim and Alter (1995) Final eval- Many participants who complete the families generate sufficient income to be uation report:The self-employment investment microenterprise training but do not start economically self-sufficient. When tailored demonstration (Washington D.C.: Corporation for Enterprise Development). their own businesses select other positive to the needs of the population being served, paths to economic self-sufficiency, such as microenterprise development is one strate- 6Raheim and Aker (1995). wage employment and further education gy that can promote both family and com- or training).' munity economic well-being. It deserves 'Corporation for Enterprise Development (1991) the careful attention of those in the human Interim lessons from the self-employment investment Businesses begun through self-employ- demonstration: Executive summary (Washington, D.C.: ment initiatives by low-income people services who are working on behalf of eco- Corporation for Enterprise Development). have a higher survival rate than the nation- nomically disadvantaged people. al average.' ' Raheim and Alter (1995). Salome Raheim, Ph.D., ACSW, is associate Businesses begun through microenter- 'Clark and Huston (1993; Raheim and After (1995). prise initiatives for low-income people professor at the University of Iowa School of Social Work, 308 North Hall, University of have economic development effects, creat- wGuy C., F Doolittle, and B. Fink (1991) Self-employ- Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1223, 319/335- ing or retaining jobs for the owner and ment for welfare recipients: Implementation of the SEID 1759 (phone), [email protected]. She additional employees' Program. New York Manpower Demonstration has served as a third-party evaluator for sev- Research Corporation. Raheim and Alter (1995). Social development benefits (i.e., eral microenterprise projects funded by the increases in human capital) result from U.S. Department of Health and Human "Raheim and Aker (1995). participation in microenterprise develop- Services, and was principal investigator of the ment programs. Training components national Self-Employment Investment "Corporation for Enterprise Development (199 I); designed to bolster self-esteem and self- Demonstration (SEID) final evaluation. Clark and Huston (1993); Guy et al. (1991); Raheim & confidence are an important component of After (1995). the business training curriculum.'° In their "Clark and Huston (1993); Raheim and Alter (1995). evaluations of programs, participants Notes report significant increases in their busi- 'Clark M., and T Huston (1993) Assisting the smallest "Clark and Huston (1993); Raheim and Alter (1995). ness knowledge and skills, self-esteem, and business: Assisting microenterprise development as a strategy for boosting poor communities. An interim '5Raheim and Alter (1995). their levels of confidence in their abilities report (Washington, D.C.: Self-Employment Learning to influence outcomes in their lives and Project, Aspen Institute). their environments." Self-employment development programs 'Else, J. and S. Raheim (1992) "AFDC Clients as Entrepreneurs: Self-Employment Offers an Important that provide a combination of business Option." Public Welfare 50 (4), 36-41. training, technical assistance, and assistance with obtaining financing have

38 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO.3 Developing Communityand. Self Sufficiency in Public Housing Omaha Housing Authority

by Joyce Beasley

Children who live in public housing face many challenges to positive outcomes. Depressing economic environments and factors such as drug abuse and gang violence are connect- ed with problems such as low self-image, lack of achievement in school, behavioral problems in and out of the classroom, and high dropout rates. While helping adult residents become economically self-sufficient, the Omaha Housing Authority (OHA), in Omaha, Nebraska, provides positive activities to restore children's and youths' sense of self-worth and help them -11111. grow into self-sufficient adults. The mission of the Omaha Housing Authority (OHA) is to provide good housing to people with low and moderate income, and to provide Omaha residents with the tools that they need to become economically independent. Through empowerment programs, OHA's housing becomes a gateway to opportunity. OHA's philosophy is that children who live in public housing should not become adults who need public housing. OHA stresses Providing necessary supportive services to ter, which will become resident-owned by education as a vital avenue in the achieve- allow individuals to accept employment the year 2002. ment of this goal. The Omaha Housing Authority currently Emphasizing accountability of partici- The Step-Up Program owns, manages, and operates more than pants and service providers A year-long, pre-apprenticeship program 6,700 public housing units throughout to provide employment and job training to Omaha. In addition, OHA's programs pro- The Gateway OHA residents and low-income individuals vide opportunities for residents to become A comprehensive array job training pro- from targeted communities. Classroom economically and socially independent; at grams is tied together through the work is followed by on-the-job training at the same time, they combat crime, foster Gateway, a partnership among OHA, OHA maintenance and construction sites; education, encourage neighborhood pride, Omaha businesses, foundations, trade at the end of the year, the students apply and promote voter registration. The current unions, institutions of higher education, for labor trade union apprenticeships. annual operating budget is $30 million, and the City of Omaha. A 54,000 square with $128 million in assets. feet facility, acquired and equipped Focus Omaha The Omaha Housing Authority's through support from the Lozier This collaboration between OHA and programs are centered around several Corporation, the Economic Development Metro Community College is a fast-track key principles: Administration, and the Peter Kiewit program that polishes individual reading Foundation, is considered to be the "gate" and math skills for work in today's market- Encouraging parents to assume their leading out of poverty for countless OHA place. Additional training is available in responsibility to support their children by residents. Gateway programs include: basic computer skills and construction arts. preparing for, accepting, and retaining Through Focus Omaha, Job Transition employment The Door and Window Specialists work with local businesses to Providing individuals with the opportuni- Manufacturing Center create employment opportunities for OHA ty to acquire the education and skills Builds high-quality, custom-made doors, residents and program participants. needed to be employed windows, and screens for OHA properties Other components of OHA's ser- Coordinating with other agencies to pro- and other public housing authorities vices include: vide individuals with a varied "menu" of throughout the United States. OHA resi- services and service providers dents are trained and employed by the cen-

BEST COPYAVAILABLE FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORT FALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 39 4 0 In addition, OHA has created a foundation that provides scholarships for residents to attend college, and offers savings bond for achievements reached by current students. Other examples of OHA's far-reaching programs are mentoring initiatives, youth leadership programs, athletics, community cleanups, after-school study centers, voter mobilization initiatives, and Omaha Police Department "over- nighters," which offer youths an opportuni- (A ty to get to know local police officers in a positive setting. Through the Omaha Housing Authority's programs, management and residents have created programs that directly challenge I the pessimism which plagues housing authorities across the country. These programs set an example of community building and service integration that can be applied to other public and non-public E housing communities.

La Fern Williams Center and Linkages Program Joyce Beasley is Vice President of Resident Resident-Relations Facilitates cooperation among several and Community Services, Omaha Housing state and local entities to provide a continu- Authority, 4401 N. 21st Street, Omaha, NE Department 68110, 402/444-4214 (phone), 412/444-6047 um of care that promotes independent living This community center operated by OHA (fax). offers a broad range of activities for adult for OHA's elderly and disabled residents. and child residents of OHA properties. It Family Self Sufficiency houses an award-winning community theater, the Center Stage, that offers drama, Program ballet, ethnic dancing, and video produc- This federally mandated effort provides tion; a state-of-the-art fitness center; and public housing residents with the resources numerous outreach programs, including a they need to leave public assistance. Full- 24-hour-a-day transportation service that time coordinators work with participants to has eliminated obstacles to getting to work secure childcare, transportation, vocational on time every day. training, education, and employment. They guide and monitor participants' progress, Resident Relations and work with other agencies to secure Department supportive services. Developed in 1986, this department of FirstStep Program the City of Omaha helps create a healthy and positive relationship between OHA This program addresses the high infant staff and residents. In addition to adminis- mortality rate and low birth weight among babies born to mothers in public housing. tering the OHA's educational programs, staff members work closely with resident It provides parents and pregnant women organizations and serve as vital links with a host of counseling, medical, and among residents, OHA programs, and social services. First Step's Young Father's Omaha-area community service agencies Program provides counseling, parenting classes, and other support services to and organizations. teenage fathers.

AVAILABLE BEST COPY 41

40 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL 16, NO. 3 "It's Not Enough to Provide Housing" Enterprise Foundation Links Affordable Housing with Services

The nonprofit housing industry has been working to develop affordable housing for the past several years. Today, nonprofit housing organizations can be found in all 50 states, and have \\\ built and renovated thousands of homes and apartments in lower-income communities. 41r These entities are valuable allies to family support programs, and the affordable housing field is recognizing .' that housing can be a start- 1 ing point for providing other kinds of support services to Maria Chavez and her sons, VMcente and Miguel, peer through the window of their prospective home as her husband, Juan, speaks with Steve Brugger, move residents towards eco- Executive Director of the Tierra Contenta Corporation. nomicself-sufficiency and to move their communities I towards greater stability. PEAN 1NFLUENC The power of combining VISTA volunteers try to walk as a group in a these two fields was recog-five-day experiential training on leadership nized in federal legislation and team-building in Pottstown, with the passage of the 1990 Family Self-Sufficiency Law, which recommended linking housing with other vital social supports.' The Enterprise Foundation, based in Columbia, Maryland, has been a national leader in moving the affordable housing field toward comprehensive family support. A national, nonprofit housing and community development organization launched in 1982, r the Enterprise Foundation seeks to ensure that all people in America have the opportunity for fit and affordable housing, and are provided the necessary services to move up and out of poverty into the mainstream of life. Students vie to answer a question posed by teacher Martha Winston in a school Through a network of more than 550 nonprofit organizations in that is one of three undergoing transformation in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. more than 150 locations, the Enterprise Foundation is helping to build a national movement to promote housing and community As a national intermediary, the Enterprise Foundation and its development. It has helped develop 61,000 new and renovated related organizations make financial resources available; provide homes by raising and committing more than $1.7 billion in loans, technical assistance and training in affordable housing and com- grants, and equity investments. Through its job placement net- munity services; create and preserve quality housing and ser- work, 26,000 hard-to-employ people have been placed in entry vices; and provide research and information on model program level jobs. and efforts. "It's not enough to provide housing," said founder James Rouse. For more information, contact the Enterprise Foundation, 10227 "It's necessary to transform the neighborhoods themselves. We Wincopin Circle, Suite 500, Columbia, MD 21044, 410/964-1230 need to work with the schools to promote quality education." (phone), 410/964-1918 (fax). The foundation also emphasizes job-skill training and placement for adults, and community-organized programs to prevent and Notes treat drug abuse. Before his death, Rouse also was responsible 'Steinbach, C. (1992) A decent place to live revisited. Columbia, Md.: Enterprise for revitalizing depressed inner-city areas with "festival market Foundation. places," and initiating activities to promote interracial harmony in Columbia. MAILABLE BEST COPY 42 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 41 Planning and Collaboration Fuel County-Wide Success The Fremont County Family Center

by Katherine Bair

The Fremont County Family lies from all segments of the community, Education and three by the Family Center Center in Carlon City, Colorado, and even become a focal point for commu- Governing Board. In all other respects, it is nationally recognized as a nity activities. functions independently. leader in the development of family-cen- This visionary, collaborative thinking led "The Cation City School District pro- tered prevention and support services. A to the construction of a 52-unit, moderate- vides strong, committed support to the full-service family resource center, the pro- to low-rent housing complex on five acres Family Center because the programs and gram's real claim to fame is its creation of land provided by the Callon City School services directly impact our educational and development of a plan for efficient District. The $4.1 million project was goals," emphasizes Frank Cooper, Carlon delivery of services and wise use of leveraged with federal tax credits and state City Schools Superintendent. He adds that resources county-wide. The plan has suc- grants. The complex features three-bed- school districts everywhere are becoming ceeded through cooperation among 40,000 room apartments with one level or town- overwhelmed by the number of children community members, practitioners, and house-style floor plans. The apartments with physical, emotional and intellectual others in Fremont County, 100 miles south have appliances, evaporative cooling, problems that schools cannot easily of Denver. window coverings, carpeting, and cable address. Waiting until children are in Fremont County Family Center's prima- television access. Attractive landscaping school to recognize these family-centered ry prevention services offer universal and greenbelt areas surround the buildings, problems is inefficient and has a definite access and comprehensive support to all which are located just minutes from busi- negative impact on the educational Fremont County families. Counseling, par- nesses, shopping, parks, restaurants and process. "To be successful, we must sup- enting skills, play groups for children and schools. Construction of the facility with port child development from the moment parents, a telephone parenting line, home- an indoor swimming pool and other recre- of birth because early family and environ- less prevention, respite care for families ational amenities is scheduled to begin mental experiences have a profound with special-needs children, family litera- in the near future. The occupancy rate is impact on a child's leaning and social cy, and school readiness programs are just at 100 percent and rental fees for the development," says Cooper. "Early inter- a few of the many services. units vary. vention often determines the course Currently funded by state and local The revenue generated from the housing between becoming an accomplished stu- grants, it began in 1992 as one of eight development complex is projected to be dent or one that remains at risk." family centers funded through a grant from $100,000 per year and is expected to be a The collaboration shows that the founda- Colorado Governor Roy Romer's office. reliable source of income for the continued tion of any joint venture is understanding As part of the original grant, each center operation of other Family Center pro- the needs of children and their families and was asked to develop a plan to become grams. Halfway between an agency and a then moving to integrate and implement self-sustaining in the long-term funding of community site, the Center offers primary the best resources. It means taking the ini- prevention programs. An advisory council, prevention programs at no cost to all fami- tiative and demonstrating a sense of comprised of parents, local and state ser- lies in Fremont County. Its mission is to urgency to meet those needs. The commu- vice agencies, law enforcement organiza- serve all families through continued com- nity has realized that the success of the tions, government and business leaders, themunity collaboration. Other programs Family Center programs depends on reli- two primary county school districts, and include a general education diploma pro- able, on-going financial support. community leaders together developed a gram, an in-depth resource bank, a literacy Fresh. Bold. A creative interagency voice plan to help implement a more predictable, program, a childhood health records plan, of hope and strength. The story of the self-sustaining financial picture for critical school development screening services, Fremont County Family Center is one of Family Center programs. mental health services, nutritional pro- committed individuals working together to Through extensive community assess- grams, immunizations, and financial coun- meet the needs of the community. ment studies, the team identified two basic seling. Community response to the pro- needs: an affordable housing complex and grams has been impressive. Katherine Bair is Director of the Fremont a center with a comfortable family atmos- The Fremont Schools Facilities County Family Center, 1401 Oak Creek Grade phere where prevention programs could Corporation and the National Development Road, Cation City, CO 81212, 719/ 269-1523. easily be accessed. They searched for a Council oversee the housing complex vehicle that the whole community would through a limited partnership agreement use and support. The team agreed that if it and collaborate with the Family Center could locate the Family Center in a recre- Governing Board. The Fremont Schools ation area with an indoor pool, it wouldn't Facilities Corporation is guided by a seven have the feel of a formal service agency. member board of directors, of whom four Then it would be more likely to draw fami- are appointed by the Canon City Board of `3 42 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 What's Behind Different Approaches to Community Building? A Brief Summary of Theories

By Joan Walsh

Community building reconciles work opportunities where they are needed. Clinton administration's Empowerment two conflicts that have thwarted These projects increase potential workers' Zone project, Lemann argued that attempts progress in poverty issues for at readiness and "willingness" to take jobs by to attract jobs to poor neighborhoods make least two decades: one over the causes of increasing the accessibility of jobs to them. no sense, since such areas have always urban unemployment, and another over been mere way stations where poor people the differences between strategies to Merging Different Strategies could improve their lots before moving on overcome poverty. The second conflict that the community to better lives elsewhere. The goal of urban building approach tries to overcome is the poverty policy, Lemann argued, should be The Sources of Urban to improve schools and services to help Unemployment people get jobs that let them leave poor While liberals blame urban poverty on neighborhoods. deindustrialization, structural unemploy- Community builders combine the "peo- ment, and racial and class discrimination, One side argues that the prob- ple" strategies that Lemann backs with a conservatives emphasize family dysfunc- pragmatic attention to "place," reasoning tion and individual misbehavior. Put sim- lem is a lack of jobs while the that poor people can't take advantage of ply, one side argues that the problem is a other insists that although jobs even the best uplift programs if they lack of jobs while the other insists that attend bad schools and live in dangerous although jobs exist, poor people are exist, poor people are unready neighborhoods and crumbling housing. unready or unwilling to take them. or unwilling to take them. The They realize that most neighborhoods Community builders know that in which they work probably will each analysis contains some truth. It is best community-building projects continue to be poorplaces where no easy matter to find employment for increase potential workers' readi- unemployed people, new immigrants, large numbers of the urban poor. William economic refugees from elsewhere in the Julius Wilson and others have documented ness and "willingness" to take United States, women leaving marriages, well_the toll that deindustrialization is tak- jobs by increasing the accessibili- and young people starting out can find a ing on African Americans, who make up foothold- just one-tenth of the American workforce ty of jobs to them. Therefore, rather than lobby for mas- but comprise one third of the workers who sive new industry in the inner city or for have lost manufacturing jobs since 1960. enormous public jobs programs, they There is clearly a spatial and skills mis- offer an array of innovative strategies to match between existing jobs and the connect the urban poor to mainstream unemployed: as cities have become centers one between "people" and "place" strate- labor markets. But they also know "peo- of finance and technology employing main- gies. Since the 1960s, the field of ple" strategies can't work without some ly the college-educated, less skill-intensive antipoverty work has been divided focus on place: both strategies are needed service, retail, and even manufacturing jobs between the "people" strategistswho to keep blighted housing, bad schools, and have proliferated in the suburbs and endorse a human services approach rampant crime from preventing poor urban beyond, out of reach for the urban poor. focused on the education, family support, residents from bettering their lives. At the same time, lack of childcare, poor and health-care needs of the poorand the education, social isolation, and self- "place" strategistswho emphasize Note destructive behaviors have prevented many rebuilding neighborhoods and focus more This article is excerpted from Stories of Renewal: on housing, retail development, and job Community Building and the Future of Urban America, of the unemployed from finding and hold- published by the Rockefeller Foundation. ing available jobs that could improve their creation than on human capital. lives. The best community-building pro- The clash between these camps was jects try to reckon with both realities by drawn starkly by writer Nicholas Lemann, developing innovative, supportive path- a partisan of "people" strategies, in a 1994 ways between the poor and existing job critique of community development in The markets along with strategies to create paid New York Times Magazine. Attacking the

4.4 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL 16, NO, 3 43 Community Building in Practice The National Community Building Network

In 1993, the National Community Foster broad community participation. A Way to Merge Building Network (NCBN) was formed Many urban programs have become Different Fields by several foundations as a way of coor- professionalized and alienated from NCBN has brought together many dinating the efforts of a broad range of the people they serve; new programs policymakers, staff of government agen- family-serving professionals (including and policies must be shaped by commu- cies, and people involved in community- community-based program providers, nity residents. based organizations. The organization's researchers, funders and others) and work currently centers on federal, state, as a vehicle for shaping federal, state, Require racial equity. and local policy work. In each community, and local policy. Racism remains a barrier to a fair NCBN is working to build a common NCBN is part of a nationwide movement distribution of resources and opportuni- understanding among residents, govern- to expand the roles of human services ties in our society; community building ment agencies, service providers, and providers and those working to promote promotes equity for all groups. community economic development in community-based organizations as to the strengths and needs of the community. It order to improve outcomes for children, Value cultural strengths. also is working to establish a shared sense youths, families, and communities. Many Community building efforts promote the of ownership of the planning, implementa- social service providers are seeing that in a values and history of many cultural tradition, and governing processes among depressed local economy, their efforts be tions and ethnic groups. inadequate in meeting community needs stakeholders, and to create flexible, non- categorical funding. that they may foster dependence, not Support families and children. NCBN's current thrust in promoting empowerment. And those working to pro- Strong families are the cornerstone of positive outcomes for all families is to duce economic growth in neighborhoods strong communities; community-building advocate for government policies and are learning that unless families are sup- efforts help families help themselves. ported in taking part in that growth procedures that foster service integration by encouraging innovation and problem through job training and other opportuni- Community building is not a program- solving. NCBN's current community- tiesthey may in fact be displaced by it. matic format as much as it is a framework building strategy also involves creating NCBN's philosophy is summarized in for addressing inter-related troublespoor strong leadership opportunities for individ- eight principles: schooling, crime, bad health, unemploy- uals and families, and building the capacity ment and underemployment, family insta- Integrate community development and building of local organizations in program- bilitythat snare people living in chronic matic areas. human service strategies. urban poverty. Traditional anti-poverty efforts have sepa- Through community building, urban For more information, contact NCBN rated "bricks-and-mortar" projects from improvement is not pursued on one front, Urban Strategies Council, 672 I 3th St., those that help families and develop by only housing or providing job training Oakland, CA 94612, 510/893-2404 human capital; each approach needs the or reforming schools, for example, but (phone), 510/893-6657 (fax), other in order to be successful. instead encompasses and coordinates [email protected] (e-mail), efforts to improve the physical, social, and http: / /wwwncbn.org (web page). Forge partnerships through economic conditions of impoverished collaboration. neighborhoods. Building community requires work by all While community building may involve sectorslocal residents, community- starting some new local institutions, it also based organizations, businesses, schools, means working with and strengthening the religious institutions, and health and families, schools, businesses, religious social service agenciesin an atmos- organizations, civic groups and govern- phere of trust, cooperation, and respect. It ment agencies that already exist in low- takes time and committed work to make income communities. such collaboration more than rhetoric. Most importantly, community building recognizes that persistent urban poverty is Build on community strengths. not just about money, but about relation- Past efforts to improve urban life have ships as well. People living in chronic too often addressed community deficits; poverty lack not only income, but benefi- community-building efforts build on local cial relationships with the people and the capacities and assets. institutions that can help them to improve their lives. Start from local conditions. There is no cookie-cutter approach to building community; the best efforts flow from and adapt to local realities. 4J

44 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 Homan Square: Community Building in Action on Chicago's West Side

The Homan vices, financial counseling, job training, and converted for office and industrial use Square devel-HENsupport for fledgling businesses owners, to create more jobs. opment is and advocacy on housing issues). The area is well situated to create a com- community building in plete, revitalized community in which action. Now, residents of SQUARE Countering a Negative families can find what they need. West the North Lawndale community on Housing Trend Lawndale includes a variety of schools, Chicago's west side can find housing to In keeping with larger trends, since churches, and parks; the addition of more suit virtually any income level and family 1960, North Lawndale has lost more than family-oriented services and businesses, as size, along with comprehensive family 60 percent of its previous population and well as affordable housing, will complete support and primary health care services. over half of its housing. A major thrust of the equation. In the near future, the community will be Homan Square is to counter that trend by The project was sparked by the donation completed with the addition of a commu- promoting home ownership. In its first of 55 acres of real estate by Sears, nity-center, a-police department serving- phase, housing construction was subsi- Roebuck and-Co. after the company- Homan Square and many surrounding dized by New Homes of Chicago, an ini- moved its headquarters into Chicago's neighborhoods, and businesses such as a tiative of the Chicago Department of main business district. The Shaw major grocery store and multi-screen Housing. Home owners were then able to Company, a real estate development com- movie theater. purchase the homes for under market pany that has built affordable housing in Currently, Family Focus Lawndale and a valueless than $100,000. the neighboring Austin community, is in primary care center operated by Rush Since the initial base of home owners charge of development; it has vowed that Presbyterian Medical Center provide resi- was established, housing in subsequent "not a single person or a single house will dents with services. Family Focus, which phases all has been sold at market value. be displaced" in the realization of this has three Chicago-area locations, was Homes are owned by 70 families, and vision of a revitalized North Lawndale. founded by FRCA founder Bernice another 50 families rent apartments at rea- Weissbourd. The center offers parenting sonable rates. A final phase of housing For more information, contact Homan education, childcare, family literacy activi- construction will add 114 rental apartments Square Management, 3333 W. Arthington, ties, information and referrals, parent sup- and townhomes, and 40 houses, probably Ste. 120, Chicago, IL 60624, 773/265- port and discussion groups, life skills train-by the end of the year 2001. Nearly one- 5195 (phone), 773/265-5197 (fax). ing, drop-in services, primary prevention fourth of each block consists of play areas services for youths, recreational activities, and common green space. and general advocacy. To attract even more families, the devel- The vision for Homan Square includes: opment will progress during phases two up to 600 units of owner-occupied and and three with increased services for fami- rental housing units (houses, townhouses, lies as well as the integration of business- and apartments), businesses and employ- es, which already are being attracted to the ment opportunities (in fields such as health area by the growing resident base. Homan care, construction, biomedical technology, Square includes more than one million light industry, and childcare), and commu- square feet that will be devoted to institu- nity services (such as family support ser- tional and commercial space, upgraded

46 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICAREPORT FALL 1997 VOL 16, NO. 3 45 RESOURCE FILE

National Community Economic ment; organizational strategic planning; and Local Initiatives Support programmatic strategic analysis. Corporation (LISC) Development Organizations 1055 Wilshire Boulevard Center for Community Futures Suite 1600 This resource file is a starting point for find- Elmwood Station Los Angeles, CA 90017 ing additional information, publications, and P.O. Box 5309 213/250-9550 assistance in the area of community eco- Berkeley, CA 94705 FAX 213/250-9889 nomic development. It is not a comprehen- 510/339-3801 Assists community development corpora- sive list.To be added to FRCA's data base, FAX 510/339-3803 tions with financial resources and technical please contact FRCA at 20 N. Wacker Consulting and training group that assists assistance in their efforts to transform dis-

Drive, Suite I I 00, Chicago, IL 60606. agencies and associations in achieving their tressed neighborhoods into healthy goals and inventing the future. communities Association for Enterprise Opportunity Center for Urban Economic National Association of 70 East Lake Street Development Community Development Suite 620 University of Illinois Loan Funds Chicago, IL 60601-5907 815 W. Van Buren, #500 924 Cherry Street, 2nd Floor 3 I 2/357-0177 Chicago, IL 60680 Philadelphia, PA 19107-241 I FAX 312/357-0180 312/996-6336 215/923-4754 Member-based national trade association FAX 3 I 2/996-5766 FAX 215/923-4755 for more than 500 microenterprise devel- Provides technical assistance, policy analysis, National membership organization for opment organizations serving thousands of and research in economic development for established non-profit community develop- economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs community organization and local government financial institutions that demonstrate across the country. Provides a forum, infor- ments. a commitment to the shared core values of mation, and a voice to promote enterprise serving low-income communities, achieving opportunity for people and communities Community Asset Builders high performance levels in lending, manage- with limited access to economic resources. 3450 Geary Boulevard ment, governance, and growth, and advocat- Represents U.S. microenterprise agenda in Suite 203 ing on behalf of their communities for finan- the growing international community. San Francisco, CA 94118 cial system reform to increase the flow of Membership open to practitioners, individu- 415/731-7270 capital to distressed and disinvested als, public agencies, funders, and others who FAX 415/73 I -3489 communities share its mission. Develops/manages projects that provide experienced professionals in commercial National Congress for Center for Community Change real estate, affordable housing development, Community Economic 160 Sansome Street incubators and business development Development

7th Floor programs I I Dupont Circle San Francisco, CA 94104 Suite 325 4 1 5/982 -0346 Community Economic Washington, DC 20036 FAX 415/956-6880 Development Program 202/234-5009 Helps develop the power and capacity of New Hampshire College FAX 202/234-4510 low-income people to change their com- 2500 N. River Road Promotes, supports, and advocates for the munities for the better through technical Manchester, NH 03106 community-based development industry assistance to a wide range of organizations 630/644-3103 and works to ensure that the resources representing low-income individuals. Enables practitioners from the U.S. and required for assisting these communities are worldwide to work together to apply eco- identified and distributed to help families Center for Community nomic principles for building sustainable, and individuals achieve lasting economic via- Development socially concerned programs that bring bility. Membership organization. Provides University of Delaware community empowerment public policy education, research and special Graham Hall projects, newsletters, publications, training, Newark, DE 19716 -3587 The Enterprise Foundation professional conferences, fund-raising, and 302/831-6780 505 American City Building technical assistance. FAX 302/83 I -3587 Columbia, MD 21044 Provides training and technical assistance to 410/964-1230 government agencies and nonprofit and FAX 410/964-1918 community-based organizations in housing Works to ensure that all low-income fami- and community development; neighbor- lies in America have the opportunity for fit hood and community planning; design, and affordable housing within a generation, implementation, and evaluation of social ser- and to work themselves up and out of vice programs; nonprofit agency manage- poverty.

46 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997VOL. 16. NO. 3 4 National Federation of The following organizations also canpro- Community Development vide information and assistance: Credit Unions 120 Wall Street Committee for Economic 10th Floor Development New York, NY 10005 477 Madison Avenue 212/809- 1 850 New York, NY 10022 FAX 212/809-3274 212/688-2063 Represents credit unions serving low- FAX 212/758-9068 income communities by providing advocacy, assistance in raising capital, training and Community Development technical assistance, organizing assistance, Financial Institutions Coalition and publications and research. 924 Cherry Street Third Floor National Housing & Community Philadelphia, PA 19107 Development Law Project 215/923-5363 2201 Broadway Suite 815 National Association of Oakland, CA 94612 Community Development Loan 510/251-2600 Funds FAX 510/251-0600 92 Cherry Street Provides legal, management, planning, train- Philadelphia, PA 19107 ing, and business assistance to community 215/923-4754 development corporations, community- based organizations, units of local and state National Congress for governments, foundations and corporations, Community Economic regional and national technical assistance Development

providers, Native American tribes, and I I Dupont Circle neighborhood groups. Emphasis on local ini- Suite 325 tiatives and local resource development to Washington, DC 20036 create stronger partnerships between com- 202/234-5009 munity organizations, foundations, and local governments. National Federation of Community Development Neighborhood Reinvestment Credit Unions Corporation 120 Wall Street 1325 G Street, NW 10th Floor Suite 800 New York, NY 10005 Washington, DC 20005 2121809-1850_ 202/376-2642 FAX 202/376-2168 National Housing & Community Works to revitalize declining lower-income Development Law Project communities and provide affordable housing 2201 Broadway for current residents through the develop- Suite 815 ment and support of local resident-led Oakland, CA 94612 partnerships that include business leaders 510/251-2600 and local government officials. Provides FAX 510/25 I -0600 training and technical assistance to help each local partnership establish goals and Shorebank Advisory Services, Inc. develop strategies 1950 E. 7Ist Street Chicago, IL 60649-2096 Pratt Institute, Center for 773/288-0066 Community and Environmental FAX 773/493-6609 Development 379 DeKalb Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11205 718/636-3486 FAX 718/636-3709 Equips low- and moderate-income communities with the resources to develop pro- gressive solutions to the physical, social and economic challenges facing them

48 FAMILY RESOURCE COALITION OF AMERICA REPORTFALL 1997 VOL. 16, NO. 3 47 Board of Directors Virginia L. Mason, Moncrieff Cochran Executive Director Cornell University, NY Ed Rivera Cancer Research Foundation, Bernice Weissbourd, President Sid Gardner Family Focus, IL Center for Collaboration for Children, Bea Romer CSU, CA First Lady of Colorado, CO Amy Rassen, Chair Jewish Family and Children's Services, Sandra Kessler Hamburg Anne L.Tuohy CA Committee for Economic Glenview, IL Development, NY Ruth Massinga, Past Chair Khatib Waheed Casey Family Program,WA James Hinchliff Caring Communities Program, MO People's Energy Corporation, IL Mustafa Abdul-Salaam SylviaYee New Haven Family Alliance, CT Mary G. Holt Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr Fund, CA MG Haft & Associates Ann Adalist-Estrin Ruth Zambrana Parent Resource Association, PA Alice King George Mason University, DC Former First Lady of New Mexico, Mary Lee Allen NM Children's Defense Fund, DC Christian C. Kjeldsen Charles Bruner Johnson & Johnson, NJ Child and Family Policy Center IA Debra Lewis-Curlee Elizabeth Carlson Federation of Community Planning, National Futures Association, IL OH

Maria D. Chavez Helen Nissani Family Development Program, NM Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, OR

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20 NORTH WACKER DRIVE SUITE 1100 CHICAGO, IL 60606

312/338-0900 FAX: 312/338-1522

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