Policy Update
What to Expect in the Lame-Duck Congress
The FY2021 appropriations bill is Congress's first priority as they enter the lame duck. Current appropriations expire after December 11. NACEDA is working with a coalition of national advocates to urge appropriators to include the highest allocation of funding possible for affordable housing and community development programs in FY21 spending bills. While lawmakers have expressed optimism about reaching a funding agreement, it remains uncertain if President Trump will support a new bill.
Passage of a new Coronavirus Relief Package remains uncertain. Senator Mitch McConnell expressed his desire to pass a second package by January 1. However, significant gaps remain among negotiators. As the coronavirus aggressively spreads, its effects on the economy have similarly increased. Negotiating points include rent relief, eviction and forbearance moratoriums, aid to state and local government, and public health infrastructure, among other needs.
Federal Reserve Issues Community Reinvestment Act ANPR
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Comments are due by February 16. Suzanne Killian from the Fed summarized the ANPR at the NACEDA Summit in October. President-elect Biden made CRA reform a notable piece of his policy platform during the campaign. However, hurdles remain for him to implement his agenda as it relates to CRA, including an uncertain partisan makeup in the Senate, and how (or if) he can replace Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC finalized its rule in May. Advocates have called on President-elect Biden to scrap the OCC's rule and proceed with a new CRA rule under the Federal Reserve's leadership.
President-Elect Biden Announces Policy Priorities
President-elect Biden launched his transition website. It includes four policy pillars: Racial Equity, Economic Recovery, Coronavirus Response, and Climate Change. The Racial Equity pillar contains several priorities of note, including a small business recovery plan, reforming Opportunity Zones, and homeownership investments, among other priorities. The President-elect's transition also named the Agency Review Teams, which include several members familiar to the NACEDA network.
Thriving Networks
 NACEDA Releases Family Portrait 2020
The report provides a snapshot of state and regional community development associations in the NACEDA network ― their budgets, priorities, cross-sector partnerships, advocacy, and member services. With generous support from PNC Bank, NACEDA conducted a comprehensive survey of our membership, analyzed the results, and produced NACEDA Family Portrait 2020. Learn how NACEDA members increase the capacity of the 3,500 local community development nonprofits who are their members.
PA Member Releases Landlord Tenant Mediation Toolkit & Funding
The Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania is supporting community efforts to build or expand mediation programs in order to stabilize landlord-tenant relationships and prevent evictions. They developed a toolkit, Building Blocks of Landlord Tenant Mediation, to provide communities with the information they need to create their own mediation programs. The Alliance is also providing five $10,000 grants for capacity building and technical assistance to five communities establishing Landlord Tenant Mediation Programs as a response to the COVID-19 crisis.
CA Member Offers Bold Recommendations for $300 Billion Bay Area Transportation Plan
The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California released The Road Ahead: A 21st Century Housing Strategy for the San Francisco Bay Area. The policy paper proposes regional housing strategies, policies, and investments to the agencies spearheading Plan Bay Area 2050, which will direct the appropriation of over $300 billion in transportation investments in the Bay Area over the next two decades, while helping cities and counties identify where to locate new homes and jobs and focus growth. View the executive summary.
Healthy Places
 National Public Health Leaders Address NACEDA Network
Some of the nation's top public health officials discussed how community development and public health sectors can work together to advocate for healthier places during the COVID crisis at our National Forum ― Strengthening Resilient Communities. Dr. Doug Jutte, Executive Director of Build Healthy Places Network, facilitated the session with Rebecca Payne, Chief Health Equity Unit at the Centers for Disease Control; J. T. Lane, Chief Population Health and Innovation Officer, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; and Dr. Oscar Alleyne, Chief of Programs and Services, National Association of County and City Health Officials. A sketch artist captured the discussion. View the full-size sketch and the speakers' slides.
MA Member Reports on Health-Related Work of Community Development Corporations
A survey by the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) found that the majority of community development nonprofits in the state were engaged in some explicit health-related work in 2019. MACDC released a report showing growing engagement in the health space, including health-related programming and advocacy, health backgrounds of staff and board members, funding, and relationships. "MACDCs partnerships in the health space help mobilize the health sector to support community development goals," the report notes. MACDC also just released this video, showing how Massachusetts CDCs are drawing on their strengths and deep community connections to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
Creative Places
NACEDA Partners on Guide to Federal Creative Placemaking Resources
The Creative Placemaking Public Resources Guide is a new toolkit developed by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) with input from NACEDA. It helps community development practitioners and their arts partners tap into federal resources for creative placemaking. NACEDA and NASAA are co-hosting webinars for our respective memberships of community development associations and statewide arts agencies to engage with each other about these new resources. Early in the new year, we will co-host a webinar for grassroots organizations.
As ArtPlace Prepares to Sunset, We Collaborate on Summits
NACEDA and ArtPlace America's communications directors served on each other's event planning committees, bringing a community development lens to ArtPlace's final summit — and arts and culture expertise to the NACEDA Summit and the Strengthening Resilient Communities National Forum. This virtual Forum used a variety of creative components to engage the 2,100 registrants. Among the highlights, NACEDA members performed a poem by Theo Langason in the opening video, "March"; poets from Minneapolis, New Jersey, and Texas performed place-based poems as a starting point for reflective "Windows and Mirrors" discussions; and spoken word artist Hannah Hasan performed I Believe In Resilience.
"Since 2014, ArtPlace has been joining NACEDA members at every summit and People & Places conference," noted ArtPlace America Deputy Director Lyz Crane. "Even though ArtPlace is sunsetting in just five short weeks, we know that we can count on NACEDA members to continue to carry the torch in finding new and creative ways of engaging residents, building community power, and tapping into what’s most meaningful in our communities all over the country."
Watch ArtPlace Summit recordings to see how they culminated a decade of creative placemaking work among artists, community developers, culture bearers, designers, government officials. View our blog, People, Places & the Power of Creative Engagement, to see how we partnered with ArtPlace and PolicyLink to embed arts into People & Places 2019.
NACEDA Presents at Grantmakers In the Arts
NACEDA has been consulting with Grantmakers In the Arts (GIA) for most of 2020 on how the association of grantmakers can partner with the community development field on their shared goal of advancing racial equity. NACEDA Executive Director Frank Woodruff presented at GIA's November conference on two fundamental tensions within the sector: people vs. place and movement vs. industry. The session was attended by almost 200 GIA members and partners. Frank's presentation was accompanied by presentations by the project's other consultants, Jennifer Cole of Arizona State University and Kiley Arroyo of the Cultural Strategies Council.
Resources
JPMorgan Chase Commits $30 Billion to Advance Racial Equity
View their new commitments, which include specific benchmarks in affordable housing and homeownership, growing Black- and Latinx-owned business, improving financial health and access to banking in Black and Latinx communities, and building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Job Postings
Executive Director
BLDG Memphis | Memphis, TN
Capacity Building Director
Prosperity Indiana | Indianapolis, IN
Director of Housing Programs
Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development | Washington, DC
Executive Director
RISE | St. Louis, MO
To post a job opportunity, contact Suzanne Gunther. A $25 donation is suggested.
Funding Opportunities
Go to our website for current grant opportunities. They're updated throughout the month.
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