Power Station

Washington, DC is not only our nation's capital, it is a city of neighborhoods, rich in African American arts and culture. In this episode of Power Station, Fair Budget co-director Monica Kamen, explains how shifting  demographics and significant public and private investment in affluent communities, have made citizen engagement in policy and budgetary decisions all the more critical. Monica Kamen and her co-director Stephanie Sneed, train local nonprofits and their grassroots constituencies in how to engage with the City Council budget process, testify at public hearings and advocate for their own policy and budget positions. The Fair Budget Coalition has developed a network of 60 nonprofit members who collaborate to demand a Fair Budget process that prioritizes racial justice. They are creating capacity and shaping better, and more, transparent, policy decisions. 

Isabel Rubio, executive director of Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, which serves the Latino immigrant community, explains the push and pull between progressiveness and regressiveness in Birmingham. In 2011, the passage of HB 56, allowed law enforcement to detain and arrest people for "reasonable suspicion" of unlawful status, creating profound fear in the community. More recently, the Latino community was an essential part of electing Randall Woodfin, a former Board member as Mayor of Birmingham and Doug Wood as US Senator. Isabel underscores the importance of organizing, advocacy, capital and assets in building community, influence and power. And, as always, Isabel advocates for the building of capacity to make all of the above possible.

Isabel Rubio, executive director of Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, which serves the Latino immigrant community, explains the push and pull between progressiveness and regressiveness in Birmingham. In 2011, the passage of HB 56, allowed law enforcement to detain and arrest people for "reasonable suspicion" of unlawful status, creating profound fear in the community. More recently, the Latino community was an essential part of electing Randall Woodfin, a former Board member as Mayor of Birmingham and Doug Wood as US Senator. Isabel underscores the importance of organizing, advocacy, capital and assets in building community, influence and power. And, as always, Isabel advocates for the building of capacity to make all of the above possible. 

For Evelyn Brito, access to healthy food is more than an abstract policy goal. It is a driving motivation for her new web-based series, My Bodega Makeover, which documents her collaboration with bodega owners and customers in her own neighborhood of Lynn, Massachusetts. The goals are ambitious. She is confident that bodegas can be a source of healthy foods if struggling owners can access produce, compete for city grants and improve store design. The series is both entertaining and education, encouraging healthy food choices and showing how bodegas cab building cohesive communities. How is Evelyn pulling off this innovative strategy? She is an independent producer, whose company, Keep it Simple Productions, explores social justice themes from a community perspective. Do you want to bring My Bodega Makeover to your community? Evelyn would love to help!

For Evelyn Brito, access to healthy food is more than an abstract policy goal. It is a driving motivation for her new web-based series, My Bodega Makeover, which documents her collaboration with bodega owners and customers in her own neighborhood of Lynn, Massachusetts. The goals are ambitious. They include helping struggling owners to purchase healthy foods, access city grants and improve store design. Neighborhood residents are encouraged to make healthy food choices and to develop relationships with owners and the community at large. And nonprofits are engaged too, including The Food Project, which connects young people to agriculture and to urban stores. How does Evelyn do this? She is an independent producer, whose company, Keep it Simple Productions, explore social justice themes from a  community perspective. Do you want to bring My Bodega Makeover to your community? Evelyn would love to help!

An important sea-change is underway in the housing and community development field. Opportunity Starts at Home, a new campaign launched by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, has drawn our nation's leading civil rights, education, economic mobility, housing, homelessness and health nonprofits into a multi-sector effort to support the expansion of rental housing for lowest income Americans. Mike Koprowski, National Director, Opportunity Starts at Home and Eric Rodriguez, Vice President, Policy, at UnidosUS, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, tell the story of this Campaign and the committed organizations that are moving it forward. Funders for Housing & Opportunity, a collaborative including the Ford Foundation, Melville Charitable Trust and the Kresge Foundation share the vision and are all-in supporters of this new and promising model.

An important sea change is underway in the housing and community development field. Opportunity Starts at Home, a new campaign launched by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, has drawn our nation's leading civil rights, education, economic mobility, housing, homelessness and health nonprofits into a multi-sector effort to support the expansion of rental housing for lowest income Americans. Mike Koprowski, National Director, Opportunity Starts at Home and Eric Rodriguez, Vice President, Policy, at UnidosUS, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, tell the story of this Campaign and the committed organizations that are moving it forward. Funders for Housing & Opportunity, a collaborative including the Ford Foundation, Melville Charitable Trust and the Kresge Foundation share the vision and are all-in supporters of the strategy.

Amelia Lobo is an all-in advocate for women and immigrants who aspire to be small business owners. She has underwritten loans to new small business owners in NYC and trained Latinas in Iowa in how to open and expand a business. She has grappled with the limitations of the federal Small Business Administration and wants nonprofits to advocate for systems changes to better serve their communities. Amelia has seen first-hand how Latino-owned small businesses have transformed the viability of Main Streets in rural communities. Even so, the rhetoric in this country about immigrants has become so poisonous that immigrant owners are rethinking their investments. You will be moved and amazed by the stories of people who have made their businesses work!

Amelia Lobo is an all-in advocate for women and immigrants who aspire to be small business owners. She has underwritten loans to new small business owners in NYC and trained Latinas in Iowa in how to open and expand a business. She has grappled with the limitations of the Small Business Administration and wants nonprofits to advocate for systems changes to better serve their communities. Amelia has seen first-hand how Latino owned small businesses have transformed the viability of Main Streets in rural communities. Even so, the rhetoric in this country about immigrants has become so poisonous that immigrant owners are rethinking their investments. You will be moved and amazed by the stories of people who have made their businesses work!

Kris Siglin believes deeply in the members of Housing Partnership Network. This collaboration of 100 high-performing housing developers of single and multi-family housing extends to 50 states. As Senior VP of Policy at HPN, Kris engages members in advocating for public resources to increase the scale of affordable housing solutions for low-income Americans. As a trade association, HPN values both social mission and business acumen. Members not only contribute benefits to the field such as an insurance and a direct buying company, they share strategies that work in their region of the country. Kris recently testified before the House Financial Services Committee about the expansion of HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency program. This program provides escrow accounts, instead of rent increases, for families in subsidized housing whose income increases over time. HPN is about solutions. And we are a nation in need of them.