New Issue: Shelterforce Journal

Posted by on July 11, 2003

[posted from Comm-Org listserv]

Important reading in Shelterforce, the national journal of affordable housing and community building.

The latest issue of Shelterforce is now online.

City Journal’s Nutty Attack
When a community group successfully organizes the poor and working class around issues like a living wage and immigrant rights, it’s bound to catch the attention of the Right. That’s exactly what ACORN has done, inspiring a hand-wringing tirade by Sol Stern in City Journal, the mouthpiece of the conservative Manhattan Institute. In the current issue of Shelterforce, John Atlas and Peter Dreier review why ACORN succeeds where other community organizations have failed – and why it has conservatives up in arms.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/129/ACORN.html

The Business of CDCs

While CDCs are focused on trying to revitalize neighborhoods, what makes them tick behind the scenes? There are many questions that lurk in the background of the field as it matures:

* What can CDCs learn from stories of their colleagues’ failure from drastic shrinkage to collapse?

* Is it better to merge with another local CDC than continue competing for funding? If so, how do you do it in a way that is fair, effective, and preserves the best of both organizations?

* Why is collaboration so hard and what are the factors of success?

A series of articles in this issue of Shelterforce takes on these questions in a searching look at the business of CDCs.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/sf129.html