On April 24th, The Democracy Collaborative’s Executive Director Ted Howard presented testimony before Illinois’ Governor’s Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise. His presentation and companion brief outlined low-cost, high-return steps that could be implemented in Illinois to help build stronger communities.
Martha H. Somerville, Gayle D. Nelson and Carl H. Mueller
The Hilltop Institute’s Hospital Community Benefit Program has released a new online resource, the Community Benefit State Law Profiles, and a companion brief, Hospital Community Benefits After the ACA: The State Law Landscape. The Profiles present a comprehensive analysis of each state’s community benefit landscape as defined by its laws, regulations, tax exemptions, and, in some cases, policies and activities of state executive agencies. As state policymakers and community stakeholders assess their state’s community benefit requirements (or the absence of such requirements) in the wake of national health reform, these tools provide a contextual basis for consideration of these policies and those of other states in comparison to federal community benefit benchmarks.
CFED’s national initiative Innovations in Manufactured Homes (I’M HOME) Loan Data Collection Project released its findings from a two-year study of more than $1.7 billion in manufactured home mortgages. Key findings from the study include analysis showing that mortgage performance for manufactured homes is comparable to similar site-built homes and sometimes actually outperforms them, and that mortgages for manufactured homes can be made with low down payments and alternative credit. The I’M HOME project is part of an effort to expand affordable mortgages to owners of manufactured homes and ensure that they have the opportunity to build wealth through homeownership.
A new report from PolicyLink examines the economic development benefits of improving healthy food access. Authors Erin Hagan and Victor Rubin argue that new grocery stores, corner stores, farmer’s markets, and other food retailers generate significant economic activity in all communities, and specifically in low-income communities. The report encourages researchers to consider the economic benefits (not just the health benefits) of innovations in food retail, distribution and production, such as financing incentives, urban agriculture, food hubs, and federal assistance programs. The report concludes by offering a series of recommendations to help understand and promote the economic benefits of improved access to healthy food.
SolidarityNYC’s latest report Growing a Resilient City: Possibilities for Collaboration in New York City’s Solidarity Economy presents their vision for an interconnected economy in the wake of Hurricane Sandy where communities take control of their own development in a grassroots, bottom-up, and democratic manner. The result of a “listening and building process,” this report examines the challenges and possibilities for connecting organizations working towards social change from community credit unions to worker cooperatives. Responses were divided into the following categories: growing visibility, strengthening organizations, building economic power, building political power, and structures for collaboration.
On April 24th, The Democracy Collaborative’s Executive Director Ted Howard presented testimony before Illinois’ Governor’s Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise. His presentation and companion brief outlined low-cost, high-return steps that could be implemented in Illinois to help build stronger communities.
Martha H. Somerville, Gayle D. Nelson and Carl H. Mueller
The Hilltop Institute’s Hospital Community Benefit Program has released a new online resource, the Community Benefit State Law Profiles, and a companion brief, Hospital Community Benefits After the ACA: The State Law Landscape. The Profiles present a comprehensive analysis of each state’s community benefit landscape as defined by its laws, regulations, tax exemptions, and, in some cases, policies and activities of state executive agencies. As state policymakers and community stakeholders assess their state’s community benefit requirements (or the absence of such requirements) in the wake of national health reform, these tools provide a contextual basis for consideration of these policies and those of other states in comparison to federal community benefit benchmarks.
CFED’s national initiative Innovations in Manufactured Homes (I’M HOME) Loan Data Collection Project released its findings from a two-year study of more than $1.7 billion in manufactured home mortgages. Key findings from the study include analysis showing that mortgage performance for manufactured homes is comparable to similar site-built homes and sometimes actually outperforms them, and that mortgages for manufactured homes can be made with low down payments and alternative credit. The I’M HOME project is part of an effort to expand affordable mortgages to owners of manufactured homes and ensure that they have the opportunity to build wealth through homeownership.
A new report from PolicyLink examines the economic development benefits of improving healthy food access. Authors Erin Hagan and Victor Rubin argue that new grocery stores, corner stores, farmer’s markets, and other food retailers generate significant economic activity in all communities, and specifically in low-income communities. The report encourages researchers to consider the economic benefits (not just the health benefits) of innovations in food retail, distribution and production, such as financing incentives, urban agriculture, food hubs, and federal assistance programs. The report concludes by offering a series of recommendations to help understand and promote the economic benefits of improved access to healthy food.
SolidarityNYC’s latest report Growing a Resilient City: Possibilities for Collaboration in New York City’s Solidarity Economy presents their vision for an interconnected economy in the wake of Hurricane Sandy where communities take control of their own development in a grassroots, bottom-up, and democratic manner. The result of a “listening and building process,” this report examines the challenges and possibilities for connecting organizations working towards social change from community credit unions to worker cooperatives. Responses were divided into the following categories: growing visibility, strengthening organizations, building economic power, building political power, and structures for collaboration.
