On the same day PolicyLink president Judith Bell had her letter on healthy-food access run in the New York Times, her piece on the Kansas City Green Impact Zone ran in the Nieman Watchdog, a great site targeting elite journalists (and run by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard):
Many states and cities have moved quickly to spend their part of the $787 billion federal stimulus package. Plenty of conventional spending is under way – highway interchanges, bridges, etc. But is there anybody out there being innovative, smart, and forward-thinking?
One promising project is the Kansas City Green Impact Zone, a targeted green revitalization effort that supporters hope will bring as much as $200 million to a 150-block, mostly poor, economically depressed section of the city. Backed by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (shown above), Mayor Mark Funkhouser, a unanimous city council, and dozens of community groups, the project could be one of the stimulus package’s signature economic development projects.
Gov. David A. Paterson’s effort to bring fresh-food stores to low-income communities is a boon for the health and economies of neighborhoods that need boosts in both.
By trying to replicate the astounding success of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative — which has already provided nearly 400,000 Pennsylvanians with better access to healthy food — New York is at the leading edge of a national wave to bring healthy food and jobs to communities that were abandoned decades ago by the well-stocked supermarkets most Americans take for granted.
That is why my organization is working in partnership with the leaders of these state efforts — the Food Trust and the Reinvestment Fund — to bring this smart, innovative idea to a national scale. Using the leadership and leverage of the federal government, we can make a real impact on the health and welfare of millions of residents of low-income communities and communities of color.
Judith Bell
Oakland, Calif., June 17, 2009
The writer is president of PolicyLink, a national research and advocacy organization.
Excellent piece today in the Times’ business section about the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative…and the effort to replicate it in New York.
The ShopRite owner, Jeffrey Brown, a fourth-generation grocer, said it would not have made economic sense to open the $14.5 million store, which is at 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue, if not for a Pennsylvania grant and revolving-loan program aimed at improving access to nutritious food in places with few, if any, good stores to choose from.
“In neighborhoods like this, people have less money and the first thing they cut out are all the high-margin items,” said Mr. Brown, citing prepared foods and fancy breads as examples. Costs, like extra security, tend to be higher in poorer neighborhoods, he said.
Through the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, Mr. Brown, who owns 10 other supermarkets in the Philadelphia area, got a $1 million grant and $7 million in federal New Markets tax credits, which are aimed at stimulating investment in low-income communities. Several customers said the prices at Mr. Brown’s store were fairer than what they had been used to.
Inspired by Pennsylvania’s example, New York City officials have developed an initiative of their own to bring new neighborhood markets selling fresh food to areas of the city where they say the need is greatest.
Earlier today, more than 200 advocates joined the “Talking with Media about Equity in the Recovery” briefing call. As the moderator, I’m pretty biased, but I thought it went great (the moderation, in particular, was sublime).
The Washington Times’ Christiana Bellantoni has a great front-page piece today about the state of New Orleans’ recovery — and how President Obama may use the lessons learned there as a blueprint for a broader recovery across America.
From the piece:
So far, Mr. Obama’s policy toward the region has mirrored his plan for the nation - an emphasis on green jobs, pulling people from poverty, and housing help.
“Those things just feel like huge gestures,” said Kalima Rose, senior director of the Louisiana recovery effort for PolicyLink.
“What we’ve learned here in Katrina is going to be important in what the president is going to implement in other cities now - job initiatives and addressing the housing crisis - stuff that was pretty much dismantled over the last administration,” she said. “The fact alone they admit homelessness is a really big problem is a huge change.”
Ms. Rose, whose advocacy group advised the Obama transition team on urban policy, said she has seen the president lay down a liberal blueprint when talking about Gulf Coast recovery - from housing assistance and infrastructure projects to more funding for unemployment insurance included in his economic stimulus plan.
Also, check out the video that accompanies the piece. It highlights the snails-pace recovery in the Lower Ninth:
The Republican roadblocks preventing Rep. Hilda Solis from taking the reins as Labor Secretary should trouble all working Americans, especially the low-income Latinos and African-Americans on whose behalf she has fought her entire career.
Rep. Solis (D-Calif.) is a passionate and progressive advocate for the needs of working people. Her appointment was roundly cheered by labor advocates and people like myself who desire a more fair and inclusive America.
In a letter in the New York Times today, I argue that the stimulus package needs more to help the poor than just a boost in social services like food stamps and unemployment benefits.
To the Editor:
Your editorial about the stimulus package’s lack of attention to the concerns of low-income Americans (“Sins of Omission: The Forgotten Poor,” Feb. 2) was right on target. Though the package does include expansion of food stamps and jobless benefits, social services alone will not meet the needs of the poor.
The huge infrastructure spending already included in the package could easily be retargeted to dramatically improve the lives of millions of low-income Americans and their communities. By expanding mass transit and providing operating funds for cash-strapped transit agencies, we can create and save thousands of jobs and connect residents to economic opportunity throughout their region.
By using tax incentives to lure grocery stores to poor neighborhoods, we can create long-term retail jobs and ensure much-needed access to healthy food. By investing in successful job training programs, we can build a vibrant 21st-century work force.
The stimulus package provides a once-in-a-generation chance to make good on America’s promise of equal opportunity for all. Smarter social and infrastructure spending is vital to making that promise a reality.
Angela Glover Blackwell
Oakland, Calif., Feb. 2, 2009
The writer is the founder and chief executive of PolicyLink.
With the economic recovery plan still streaking through DC, Salon began an interesting series today in which they invited advocates, economists, labor leaders and private-sector folks to write about how the package should be constituted.
PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell prepared the first installment, continuing to argue that equity must be the top concern in the package:
What kind of recovery package would make sense?
Three words: big, smart and fair.
The current economic crisis has hit low-income people and communities of color first and worst. We have to rethink how and where we make these investments. By just pushing $700 billion (or more) down the same pipeline we always have, we will end up with many new car-choked suburban highways and plenty of pet projects for the politically connected, but we would miss a truly historic opportunity to improve our economy, our environment and our communities. We need to put a down payment on a prosperous and inclusive America.
You can also check out Angela’s similar commentary on NPR’s Marketplace this past Friday:
This weekend, president-elect Obama used his weekly radio/YouTube address to announce his pick for HUD secretary, Shaun Donovan. It is interesting to see the president-elect talking so deeply about affordable housing issues and their centrality to the American Dream. The full speech text is available here. This passage about regional prosperity is particularly intriguing:
We need to approach the old challenge of affordable housing with new energy, new ideas and a new, efficient style of leadership.We need to understand that the old ways of looking at our cities just won’t do. That means promoting cities as the backbone of regional growth, by not only solving the problems in our cities, but seizing the opportunities in our growing suburbs, exurbs and metropolitan areas.
