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Bringing Pro-Worker Home Care Practices from the Bronx to the Pacific Northwest and Beyond

Oscar Perry Abello

October 09, 2019 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

Worker cooperatives offer a scalable model through which to ensure and protect the rights of home care workers. The Home Care Workers Purpose Trust, started by the Bronx-based Cooperative Home Care Associates, brings the worker co-op model to other home care programs across the country. The group, which partners with multiple worker advocacy organizations, most recently began a joint venture to serve southern Washington state.

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A Worker Cooperative and a Community Land Trust Bought a Building Together

Oscar Perry Abello

June 18, 2019 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Cooperative ownership provides an avenue through which local nonprofit organizations and businesses can retain ownership of real estate. In Oakland, California, the Oakland Community Land Trust uses federal grants and donations to then acquire and retain ownership of commercial and residential properties. In cases where funds offered by the Trust or from crowdfunded donations are not sufficient, as with the Hasta Nuerte worker owned co-op coffee shop, offering up equity in the venture to private investors can help raise capital.

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How West Oakland Financed Its Own Grocery Store

Oscar Perry Abello

May 30, 2019 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Public investment campaigns can raise capital and attract larger institutional investors. In the neighborhood of West Oakland, the Community Foods Market opened its doors by raising funds through a Direct Public Offering (DPO). In addition to using traditional grant funding and so-called “angel” investors, the Community Foods Market turned community members into investors, giving them partial ownership of their local grocery store.

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Why History Matters in Equitable Development Planning

Oscar Perry Abello

March 07, 2019 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

A new park plan in Washington, D.C. addresses systemic racism and inequity in current city infrastructure, digging deeper than traditional urban planning landscapes. The new plan takes into account perspectives from minorities and low-income households to ensure the community space is built by the people, for the people - establishing economic justice along the way. This D.C. park plan is helping people purchase homes, finance businesses and get jobs.

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Confronting Generations of Racial Economic Injustice in Charlotte

Oscar Perry Abello

February 13, 2019 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

In an initiative to level the playing field for businesses led by women and people of color, cities and businesses work together to evaluate and address racial and gender disparities in the private sector. By performing studies and creating programs that partner these business with franchises like the NBA, these programs offer opportunities to work past stereotypes and discrimination.

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The Largest Indoor Recreational Space in Chicago, and So Much More

Oscar Perry Abello

November 15, 2018 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

In Chicago, where seasons as well as subpar local investment in the South Side limit children’s ability to play outside year-round, the new Pullman Community Center is a huge improvement. Beyond fostering recreational opportunities for youth, the community center employed over 200 people, mostly local residents, in its construction. Best of all, “It was a key component to have the whole thing owned, operated and managed by a local group that looks like the community,” says local Alderman Anthony Beale. They succeeded.

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How Communities of Practice Make a Difference in Middle Neighborhoods

Oscar Perry Abello

October 22, 2018 |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Community development groups are working closely with "middle neighborhoods" - areas "that aren't distressed today, but they may become so sooner than anyone expects." From Cleveland to Milwaukee to Chicago, CDCs are improving the lives of long term homeowners and helping interested parties generate the capital to move into these neighborhoods: “You're investing to a place that is on the edge, still has assets, still has people who want to be there, but need a nudge to get over the top, versus investing 60 homes in a non-functioning market."

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Here's What Investing in Economic Justice Looks Like

Oscar Perry Abello

September 28, 2018 |

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Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Montgomery, Alabama

Hope Credit Union has a mission: serving mostly black, marginalized communities in the South whose capital was historically displaced through slavery. In 2017, the credit union gave out $100 million in loans. ‘That total includes 61 business loans, 2,825 consumer loans, and 287 home mortgages, of which 87 percent went to first-time homebuyers.”

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How these Portland residents got to own a piece of their neighborhood

Oscar Perry Abello

August 14, 2018 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

A unique financial set up in Portland has led to the creation of the East Portland Community Investment Trust, in which residents in four local zip codes can invest small amounts of money into local projects, specifically shares of a shopping center. To invest, community members need to take a short financial literacy class. So far, the average investment is just $80, but that still pays annual dividends that are meaningful to its investors.

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Financial Empowerment Centers Help City Residents Improve Their Fiscal Health

Oscar Perry Abello

August 06, 2018 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Financial Empowerment Centers work with clients to help them build savings, improve credit scores, and take full advance of assistance programs. While the daily demands of poverty often create an inability to plan for the future, the Center's clients have found that counseling has provided a path to engage with these issues and a trusted helper to improve their financial health.

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