(Reprinted from Shelterforce Magazine and written by Massachusetts Association of CDCs Executive Director Joe Kriesberg)

Todays economic crisis is devastating neighborhoods and households across the country. Urban, low-income communities that were slowly recovering from the disinvestment of earlier decades are now falling back to where they were in the 1970s. Rural communities, walloped by the collapse of key economic generators, have suffered no less. Families that had begun to break the cycle of poverty and build small amounts of savings are now being plunged back into debt. Yet, at a time when the work of community development corporations is more needed than ever, there are growing questions about their long-term viability and efficacy.

Across the country, community development corporations (CDCs) have responded aggressively and effectively to the challenges of the current economic crisis. But at the same time, funders, investors, scholars, policy makers and many practitioners are asking if the CDC model still works. Can CDCs help this country recover? Do we need a different organizational model or models to achieve our goals…(click on the link below for the full article.)

http://www.shelterforce.org/article/1767/a_21st_century_vision_for_community_development/