Community Opportunity News — September 2024 |
NACEDA is now the Community Opportunity Alliance
September 30, 2024
|
Rising Insurance Costs – Elevating the Voices of Community Developers
|
We are delighted to announce a cohort of 24 community development leaders from across the country who are participating in our Community Development Voice initiative. We will engage these representatives several times a year to provide reactions to major current events impacting our field. We will use their insights to influence policy decisions, inform funders, engage the media, and advocate for underserved communities.
We recently asked representatives about their property and casualty insurance rates and their organizational insurance rates. We learned that increased rates and
|
dropped policies for both types of insurance are pervasive across the country, including geographic areas that are not typically associated with climate change. Escalating insurance costs are damaging the organizational health of community development organizations, causing them to raise rents or eliminate programming. Almost all organizations reported that insurance issues have caused them to question whether to take on additional development projects. Some also had to sell properties or lay off staff. “Higher operating costs will discourage investment in affordable housing,” noted Jesus Esquivel of Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing in Arlington, Virginia. View a summary of representatives' responses on rising insurance costs.
|
Join Us Thursday: Peer-Learning Meeting on Nurturing Small Businesses
|
Are you working to expand economic opportunity in the community you serve? Do you want to learn from peers across the country? We invite you to participate in our Community Economic Development Peer-Learning Network. Our first meeting will be held on October 3 from 1:00-2:30 pm Eastern Time. The meeting will feature a presentation about nurturing small business ecosystems in underserved Washington, DC communities. During the meeting, we will break into smaller groups to share best practices, lessons learned, and helpful resources and partnerships. Register now. We're limiting the number of participants to promote personal engagement.
|
New Toolkit: Engage Landlords in Housing Unhoused People
|
The Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania developed a comprehensive toolkit to help homelessness crisis-response systems place unhoused households into permanent housing more quickly. The toolkit has resources and templates that can be used around the country. It provides information on promising practices, including housing location tools and templates, models for customer service, financial incentives for landlords, and ideas on how to fund the incentives. Director of Programs & Outreach Gale Schwartz said, “Helping families experiencing homelessness find a new home has never been easy, but now with unprecedented demand for rental housing, it has become even harder. Homelessness crisis response systems are having to adapt to the changing market conditions to ensure the people they serve move into a home of their own as quickly as possible.”
|
Federal Reserve Addresses the Financial Health of Community Development Organizations
|
Our Latest Report Has Significant Policy & Funding Implications
|
Financial Health Across Types of Community Economic Development Organizations is the fifth and final report in our Money Meets Community Series. It explores how the financial health of community development organizations varies by their lines of business and by size. The report gives funders, policymakers, and technical assistance providers information to support the unique needs of each type of community development organization in the most effective manner.
The report has significant findings related to organizational size. Larger organizations tend to be more financially healthy than smaller ones. This relates to all types of community development organizations. Sector-wide, most funding flows through organizations that are in good or excellent health.
|
The report concludes that preventing fragile financial health among the greatest number of organizations could best be accomplished by attending to the needs of mid-size and smaller organizations.
|
Money Meets Community: The 80/20 Dilemma
|
Access the webinar recording and slides from our September 13 webinar. This webinar provided insights into the systemic impact of funding disparities on smaller community development organizations and those led by people of color.
|
Disaster Recovery & Preparedness Funding Available
|
SBP has two funding opportunities available. The National Long-Term Recovery Grant supports nonprofits helping homeowners in FEMA-designated counties recover from disasters declared within the past four years. The Preparedness and Resilience Micro Grant funds nonprofits in high-risk areas to strengthen individual and community preparedness for extreme weather. Both programs prioritize organizations serving immigrants, migrants, refugees, Indigenous people, and communities of color. Applications are open through November 1.
|
At a Glance: Tax Incentives for Clean Energy & Energy Efficiency
|
Job Opportunities
View current job postings.
To post a job opportunity on our website, contact Kadasha Hershey at [email protected]. We request a $25 donation from non-members.
|
|
|