New Issue of Shelterforce

Posted by on May 30, 2003

[posted from Comm-Org]

From: Miriam Axel-Lute

The latest issue of Shelterforce is now online at: http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/sf128.html

Setting East St. Louis on the Right Track
When Ceola Davis heard that the St. Louis light-rail system was expanding, she saw it as an opportunity to revitalize what federal housing officials called, “the most distressed small city in America,” her home, East St. Louis. If she could get the train to make a stop in Emerson Park, one of the most devastated neighborhoods in all of East St. Louis, residents would have access to many jobs. New jobs would mean more money coming to an area that desperately needs to be revitalized. With skillful organizing and unwavering dedication, the residents of Emerson Park began rebuilding their damaged community. They refused to allow the train to leave them standing at the station.

In the latest issue of Shelterforce, Kenneth M. Reardon, who worked on the project and directed the East St. Louis Action Research Project, chronicles the battle to save a dying town. http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/128/ridingrails.html

Without a Home, Without an Education
The unfunded mandates of the Bush administration’s “No Child Left Behind” program and the devastating consequences of huge federal deficits have caused schools in Oregon to cut two weeks from their calendar to save money, a cost-cutting strategy that may be imitated across the nation. While an economic catastrophe is
causing concern among parents about their children’s educations, many children have been living with a shortened school year their entire lives. The children of migrant workers and the homeless have extremely low graduation rates because they have no stable home. Moving often makes it easy for them to fall behind their
classmates and difficult for them to move on to the next grade.

Shelterforce looks at the damaging effects that unstable housing has on children’s educations and examines the possible solutions being offered to help their parents raise families when moving from home to home.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/128/leftbehind.html

Also in this issue…
Two views on asset-building as a strategy to fix poverty, and a look at advocacy and organizing as CRA turns 25. Important reading in Shelterforce. http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/sf128.html