Investing in what works for america's communitiesx program
This book produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in 2012 is a series of essays on the work of community development Some of the essays are by academics others are by folks who have worked in the field of community development especially urban poverty alleviation. Investing in What Works for America's Communities bookworm My main takeaways were as follows poverty alleviation and community development are hard there are significant systemic and socio economic forces that create and sustain poverty the face of poverty in the US has changed over the past 40 or so years with of it occurring now in suburban neighborhoods and not just in deeply rural or heavily urbanized places what works in one region or community will not necessarily work somewhere else solutions that focus not just on place but also on people and programs are important integrated solutions that get multiple stakeholders talking and working together are necessaryAs someone who is not a practitioner in this field but of an interested bystander I found this book a bit dry The essays that discussed specific solutions e. Investing in What Works for America's Communities booker g case studies were interesting to me than those that looked at macro level policy Written by a number of voices there is some overlap in ideas and material which also bogs the book down when reading from end to end The last few essays attempt to draw out major themes and integrate ideas. Investing in what works for america's communities book free pdf I would recommend this book for true students of the field of community development politics and social policy related to poverty For the rest of us it s probably a little too obscure Paperback
One in six Americans now lives in poverty the highest level in half a century Poverty has spread beyond cities to suburbs and rural communities and is being transferred from one generation to the next At the same time we know about what it takes to build vibrant communities and to help people lead healthy productive lives We also know that expanding access to affordable housing good schools transportation jobs and even supermarkets and parks can mean better health and life outcomes for people and revitalize whole communities Investing in What Works for America s Communities is a new book that calls on leaders from the public private and nonprofit sectors to build on what we know is working to move the needle on poverty The book s impressive list of authors represents a broad range of sectors including federal agencies philanthropy housing academia health and the private sector This collection of essays provides dozens of innovative ideas that can bring new opportunities to America s struggling communities It calls on leaders from the public private and nonprofit sectors to recognize that they can work smarter and achieve by working together Investing in What Works for America s Communities.
