Field Notes

These are stories about the work and impact of NCRC members in their communities. What are the economic justice needs and solutions in your community? Submit your story ideas.

East LA Community Corporation Builds Opportunity Through Housing and Advocacy

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Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the East LA Community Corporation (ELACC) was formed by activists dedicated to serving their Boyle Heights and East LA communities. The nonprofit has funneled over $250 million into housing and other community development resources to strengthen low-income neighborhoods. Through its affordable housing portfolio, asset and wealth-building programs, homeownership counseling […]

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Woodstock Institute Uses Data to Advocate for Community Reinvestment and Fair Lending Across Illinois

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Nestled in the heart of downtown Chicago, the Woodstock Institute has been working to advance economic justice and racial equity within financial systems at the local, state and national levels for over 50 years.  The organization was founded in 1973 by Chicago philanthropists Sylvia and Aaron Scheinfeld as the program arm of the couple’s foundation

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“You can’t out-budget poverty”: MakingChange, Inc. helps people overcome financial instability in affluent Maryland

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Experiencing poverty in an affluent community like Howard County, Maryland can seem like a strange oxymoron due to the area’s high median income and low poverty rates. In 2022, the area was ranked as the sixth-richest in the nation with a median income of over $124,000 and one of the lowest poverty rates in the

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Rebuilding Generational Wealth: How Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives Creates Pathways to Black Homeownership

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As one of the largest Black-led affordable housing nonprofits in the state of Oregon, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives (PCRI) continues to expand pathways to homeownership for Black communities systemically disenfranchised by discriminatory housing practices. Founded in 1992 after taking over properties from a discriminatory mortgage company, PCRI’s holdings have grown to over 700 properties, including

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A strong and stable force: How Ceiba created a lasting community and economic development ecosystem for Latine families in Philadelphia

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Ceiba, a coalition of Latine community organizations in Philadelphia, is named after the ceiba trees that grow in the Caribbean. These trees, known for their hardiness and far-reaching foliage, are complete ecosystems that provide shade and meet the needs of humans, animals and plants alike.   The Ceiba coalition reflects its namesake by acting as a

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Power Through Partnership: The Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development’s 25-Year Journey

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Twenty-five years ago, the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (i.e., the Coalition) was born from a simple realization that local advocacy organizations were weakening their impact by not working collaboratively. Two groups of local advocacy organizations focused on affordable housing and economic development respectively were constantly competing with each other for the same

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Representing the voice of the community: Rise Economy advocates for equitable community development efforts across California

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BIPOC-led affordable housing organizations in California have few options to turn to for help with capacity building and grant funding, but one organization is trying to change that.  Rise Economy was founded in 1986 by a group of legal aid attorneys and other advocates who wanted to improve affordable housing access in California. The organization

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Detroit’s LOVE Building: A Communal Space for Joy, Belonging and Connection

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The idea for the LOVE Building in Detroit began with a question asked while its founders were in line for a bathroom at a community party in 2016: What if we did more than plan events together? What if we built something together for ourselves and our community? The people asking were the longtime leaders

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Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Tackles Cincinnati’s Severe Racial Gap in Homeownership

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Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) has championed fair housing in the Greater Cincinnati area for over six decades with the mission of “eliminating unlawful discrimination in housing.”  HOME’s work targets Cincinnati’s extreme segregation due to discriminatory housing practices like gentrification that systemically displace Black homeowners by raising rents, mortgages as well as property taxes.  The

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Power in numbers: How Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council fights against discriminatory housing practices

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Housing advocates at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council (MMFHC) have created an impactful toolkit for vulnerable communities that continue to be impacted by the legacy of redlining.  MMFHC traces its roots back to 1977 when Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood was beginning to become racially integrated. At the time, Sherman Park was a mostly white

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New York’s Center for Regional Strategies’ Program Model for Creating Community Wealth

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The Center for Regional Strategies (CRS) is fostering sustainable wealth for residents in western New York by creating innovative economic growth models that increase household income and attract opportunities to the region. CRS serves as a central hub for connecting organizations to funders and collaborating with government offices, developers and community groups. Together, they build

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A Right, Not a Privilege: Solita’s House’s vision to make homeownership more attainable

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For 19 years, Solita’s House has been a pillar in the Tampa, FL community by bridging the housing gap through a range of counseling and education programming that is designed to get residents “mortgage ready.” “It’s really about [helping] people understand the connection between the programs that are available in their area and how to

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“We’re not alone”: African American Trade Association’s workforce development programming for students in Colorado

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Since 2020, the African American Trade Association (AATA) has supported Denver-area Black-owned businesses with programs that help them strengthen their internal mechanisms and further their external reach. AATA’s first programs included technical assistance for minority and women-owned businesses, including providing them with access to capital guidance, connecting them to IT-related services, and other forms of

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Virginia Community Voice Empowers Residents to Create Change in Historically Marginalized Neighborhoods

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For the past decade, Richmond’s Virginia Community Voice (VACV) has been a blueprint for how organizations can drive equitable community engagement, amplify citizens’ voices and foster radical healing in their own backyards. VACV’s work centers on creating and implementing equitable processes for addressing community needs by empowering residents to identify challenges in their own neighborhoods

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Changing the landscape: How Community Development Advocates Build Capacity and Power in Philadelphia

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The future of housing often feels solely in the hands of large private developers and politicians. But the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC) has spent the last three decades working to tip the scales in favor of everyday people. Since its founding in 1992, PACDC has served as the connective tissue between more

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