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Ending Persistent Poverty in Rural America: The Role of CDFIs

NonProfit Quarterly

This article introduces a new series, titled Eradicating Rural Poverty: The Power of Cooperation. For decades, community development financial institutions have delivered capital into communities and regions that otherwise suffer from disinvestment. This is true in urban areas and, critically, rural communities.

Poverty 120
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Making Policy Work for Rural Communities: The Value of Community Voice

NonProfit Quarterly

This article is the second in the series Eradicating Rural Poverty: The Power of Cooperation. Public funding programs often include conditions that exceed the capabilities of high-poverty areas, such as requiring matching funds that these areas do not have. A different approach that centers community voice is sorely needed.

Values 115
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??How Community-Based Public Space Can Build Civic Trust: Lessons from Akron

NonProfit Quarterly

In the 1960s, the construction of interstate highway I-76 and state Route 59 disconnected Summit Lake from the rest of Akron. Ongoing neglect and isolation led to entrenched, concentrated poverty and a growing distrust of civic leaders. The city’s Black business district was devastated.

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Zero-Problem Philanthropy

Stanford Social Innovation Review

Proponents of this positive psychology movement argue that poor people should not be “completely defined by their poverty, nor can they be fully understood in its terms alone.” Assuming positive traits and emotions like joy, love, intimacy, and hope provide an opportunity to build constructive thoughts and ideas about the future.

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Getting Federal Money to Communities: A Story from Puerto Rico

NonProfit Quarterly

As a Puerto Rico-based nonprofit that leverages community-based abandonment inventories, community–municipal partnerships, a rehabilitation and construction team, and in-house legal expertise to convert abandoned buildings and lots into opportunities for community-led development, the lack of access to financing nearly destroyed the organization.

Finance 99
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Housing Innovation in Rural America

NonProfit Quarterly

This article concludes the series : Eradicating Rural Poverty: The Power of Cooperation. For decades, the United States has focused on what are called “place-based” strategies and policies to address poverty, housing access, and affordability. Studies show that secure housing is critical to reducing generational poverty.

Poverty 106
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Approaching Gender Equity Through Indigenous Knowledge and Customs

Stanford Social Innovation Review

By Vurayayi Pugeni , Caroline Pugeni & Dan Maxson International community development has changed significantly over its history, shifting from primarily responding to disaster events to improving communities using a sectoral approach to issues like health, agriculture, and water and sanitation.

Culture 52