Power Station

What does it take to build wealth in low-income and communities of color? It requires more than personal responsibility and savings. Bridging our nation’s gaping racial wealth divide means taking on systemic barriers: racism, student debt, low wages and resistance to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. We need changes to the US Tax Code, which, as Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz, Acting Director of Capital Area Asset Builders explains, “rewards the rich, misses the middle and penalizes the poor.” A former wealth adviser, Joseph now uses his financial acumen to advocate for the Earned Income Tax Code, our nation's most effective poverty alleviation tool. 

The EITC is critical public policy that makes low-income wage earners eligible for a credit that could be transformational in their family's fortunes. In combination with other financial education and resources, families that file for a receive a credit can aspire to and reach financial goals, from a college education to the purchase of a home or the launch of a small business. It is particularly important for undocumented immigrants, who may be the most reluctant to file.

In Washington DC, where over 1/3 of the residents are unbanked or underbanked, Capital Area Asset Builder leads a network of nonprofits, City government, corporate and foundation partners, in advocating for the EITC. CAAB also promotes the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, a critical alternative to the unregulated tax preparers who strip wealth wealth in poor communities. Listen to Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz and become part of the national conversation.

A new organization is amplifying the voices of those who are often invisible in the immigration narrative, undocumented Black people. The UndocuBlack Network started when a group of currently and formerly undocumented Black people came together after Freddy Gray, a Baltimore resident, died from injuries sustained while in police custody. In just 3 years, the UndocuBlack Network has blossomed into a national nonprofit. As Gabrielle Jackson, co-founder and Mental Wellness Director explains, undocumented people from the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Latin America and the African Continent are deported at significantly higher rates than other populations and their stories are often underreported. A childhood arrival from Trinidad and Tobago, Gabrielle wants no one else to feel the kind of aloneness that she did. As she says, We focus on both policy advocacy and mental illness and mental wellness issues. You have the right not just to survive but to thrive.

A new organization is amplifying the voices of those who are often invisible in the  immigration narrative, undocumented Black people. The UndocuBlack Network started when a group of currently and formerly undocumented Black people came together after Freddy Gray, a Baltimore resident, died from injuries sustained while in police custody. A group of young people organized the Undocumented and Black convening in Florida, sparking national interest and participation. In just 3 years, the UndocuBlack Network has blossomed into a national nonprofit whose advocacy is building community, influence and power. 

As Gabrielle Jackson, co-founder and Mental Wellness Director, explains on Power Station, the challenges of the undocumented from the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Latin America and the African Continent are complex. They are deported at significantly higher rates than other populations and their stories are often underreported. Those in line for citizenship drop out of the process for many reasons and asylum seekers face deportation to countries where their safety is at risk. LGTBQ immigrants grapple with bias and isolation.

A childhood arrival from Trinidad and Tobago, Gabrielle, was a DACA recipient, who wants no-one else to feel the kind of aloneness that she did. Now a mental health professional, she leads initiatives that create resources and support for the community.  As she explains, We focus on both policy advocacy and mental illness and mental wellness issues. You have the right not just to survive but to thrive.

This is a story we need to hear, embrace and act on.

Dr. Imani Woody has a vision and she is bringing it to life. It reflects a lifetime of working at the intersection of LGBTQ, race, cultural diversity, and aging issues. It is informed by her experience with her father, an accomplished entrepreneur, who, after entering a "good" nursing home, experienced a decline in self-worth and physical health. She took her father out of the facility, into her home, and reimagined what is possible.The model Dr. Woody has developed is based in research, including her own PhD thesis, which chronicled the challenges of aging, particularly for LGBTQ elders who are most likely to suffer from isolation, discrimination and marginalization. She formed a nonprofit, and drew on her experience with the Whitman Walker Center, the Mautner Project for Lesbians, the AARP Foundation Sage Metro DC and as an appointee to the DC Office of LGBTQ Affairs. In September 2020. she will break ground on the first Mary's Center for Older Adults, communal living for LGBTQ elders.

Dr. Imani Woody has a vision and she is bringing it to life. It reflects a lifetime of working at the intersection of LGBTQ, race, cultural diversity, and aging issues. And it is informed by her experience with her own father, an accomplished entrepreneur, who, after entering a "good" nursing home, experienced a decline in self-worth and physical health. She took her father out of the facility, into her home, and reimagined what is possible.

The model Dr. Woody has developed is based in research, including her own PhD thesis, which chronicled the challenges of aging, particularly for LGBTQ elders who are most likely to suffer from isolation, discrimination and marginalization, even in "the best" of senior facilities. She formed a nonprofit, and drew on her considerable professional experience with the Whitman Walker Center, the Mautner Project for Lesbians, the AARP Foundation Sage Metro DC and as an appointee to the DC Office of LGBTQ Affairs. In September 2020. she will break ground on the first Mary's Center for Older Adults, communal living for LGBTQ elders. And it will be located at the site of the home where she grew up in DC's Ward 7. She is hard at work, not just in DC, but in building the future of this model in all 50 states. Hear her story on Power Station and you will be a believer too. 

Alison Feighan learned about the power of community development to change communities and lives as a Fair Housing advocate in Quincy, Massachusetts. In her first "real" job out of college, Alison became a Fair Housing advocate for Quincy Community Action Agency where she worked for and was mentored by her executive director, the late Rosemary Wahlberg. The lessons learned from Rosemary - listening to the community, being problem solving and taking local stories to a national stage on Capitol Hill - are foundational to Alison's work. As Founder of The Feighan Team, an advocacy and lobbying firm for nonprofits, Alison gets her clients seats at the table on the Hill and then "gets out of the way." She works with them to identify their goals, understand the Congressional timeline, and build their "muscle memory" as advocates on their issues. And she encourages a non-partisan approach, a significant challenge in the current political environment. Her clients, which include the Native CDFI Coalition, National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition, have become resources to Congressional members and their staffs. They are developing and using their muscle memory to make their case, push back against Budget cutbacks and create bi-partisan champions in the US Congress.

Alison Feighan learned about the power of community development to change communities and lives as a Fair Housing advocate in Quincy, Massachusetts. In her first "real" job out of college, Alison became a Fair Housing advocate for Quincy Community Action Agency where she worked for and was mentored by her executive director, the late Rosemary Wahlberg. The lessons learned from Rosemary - listening to the community, being problem solving and taking local stories to a national stage on Capitol Hill - are foundational to Alison's work. As Founder of The Feighan Team, an advocacy and lobbying firm for nonprofits, Alison gets her clients seats at the table on the Hill and then "gets out of the way." She works with them to identify their goals, understand the Congressional timeline, and build their "muscle memory" as advocates on their issues. And she encourages a non-partisan approach, a significant challenge in the current political environment. Her clients, which include the Native CDFI Coalition, National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition, have become resources to Congressional members and their staffs. They are developing and using their muscle memory to make their case, push back against Budget cutbacks and create bi-partisan champions in the US Congress. Is your nonprofit keeping its mission and strategies on the radar in Washington DC? Listen to Alison for the story of how it is done.

This episode of Power Station tracks the latest news on the lawsuit, filed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, challenging the inclusion of an untested citizenship question on the decennial U.S. Census. John Yang, President of AAJC, explains what the lawsuit alleges: that adding the question represents collusion by President Trump, Kris Kobach, Steve Bannon and Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, to deprive Asian-American, Pacific Islander, Latino and Native Americans of their constitutional right to representation in the Census. Census data is what drives more than $600 billion in federal funding allocations annually to schools, hospitals, roads and all of the systems that make communities whole. It is also what determines how districts are drawn and the number of congressional seats each state has within the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposed addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census undermines the very purpose of this singular enterprise: to count all people in the U.S. and create a data-driven roadmap for public investment where and for whom it is needed the most.

This episode of Power Station tracks the latest news on the lawsuit, filed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, challenging the inclusion of an untested citizenship question on the decennial U.S. Census. Guest John Yang, President of AAJC, explains what the  lawsuit alleges: that adding the question represents collusion by President Trump, Kris Kobach, Steve Bannon and Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, to deprive Asian-American, Pacific Islander, Latino and Native Americans of their constitutional right to representation in the Census. Imposing a citizenship question on the Census will inevitable deter households from participation, and an accurate count of these communities will not be collected. 

Good data is not a partisan issue. The good data he refers to is what drives more than $600 billion in federal funding allocations annually to schools, hospitals, roads and all of the systems that make communities whole. It is also what determines how districts are drawn and the number of congressional seats each state has within the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposed addition, by the Trump Administration, of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census undermines the very purpose of this singular enterprise: to count all people (not only those who are citizens) in the U.S. and create a data-driven roadmap for public investment where and for whom it is needed the most. Learn what's happening and what we all can do.

As Mike Koprowski, National Campaign Director of Opportunity Starts at Home says, eyes widen on Capitol Hill when they see the logos on our letterhead. That is because policymakers are not used to seeing powerful nonprofits outside of the housing sector advocate for a housing centered policy agenda. The data makes the case that decent and affordable housing is foundational to the well-being and economic security of all communities. A growing understanding of the intersectionality of social and economic justice concerns has moved the nation's leading civil rights, education, health and children's organizations to join and shape the agenda of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign. Mike and Campaign Coordinator Chantelle Wilkinson joined Power Station to talk about this dynamic coalition and about Within Reach, its just-released policy agenda. Within Reach is a comprehensive template for solving the housing crisis for lowest income Americans. It advocates for demand side, supply side and prevention solutions, including new initiatives that create resources for lowest income tenants when emergencies arise. A shift in housing advocacy is happening.