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Community
Organizing
Affordable
Housing
Community
Reinvestment
Congregational Organizing
Immigrant Rights
Racial Justice
Community
Reinvestment
VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE:
Monday June 23rd:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
Tuesday June 24th:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
Wednesday June 25th:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
Thursday June 26th:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
We will be meeting at the Hennepin County Government Center (300 S. 6th
St in downtown Minneapolis) for each shift, on the 5th floor of the
Administrative Tower, in the County Recorder's office. Just walk through
the door, turn left and at the end of a short hall you'll see a group of
computer terminals on your right. If you don't see anyone you know, feel
free to ask any staff person where to find us (they can give you an
orientation or contact Madeline Kastler, Commissioner Gail Dorfman's
aide).
Park at the underground lot beneath the Government Center (enter on 3rd
avenue just north of 6th St) and Madeline will give you a sticker for
free parking.
Please email me with any further questions, and otherwise I'll send out
another update (hopefully to announce that we've made it to 30 shifts or
that we've completed our review of the 5,000 mortgages and are ready for
the next stage!).
There are eight levels of tzedakah, one above the other. The greatest
level, than which nothing is higher is to strengthen the hand of the
poor by means of gift or loan or by going into partnership with him, so
that he can become self-sufficient.
Maimonides,
Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10:7
Jewish Community
Action (JCA) and our allies believe that giving residents of working
class neighborhoods fair and equitable access to capital challenges some
of the deep, systemic roots of poverty. Through our Community
Reinvestment project, we have directed over $14 million in individual
and institutional deposits to Twin Cities banks that work actively with
low-income communities to support sustainable homeownership, and small
business and community development. Without a network of
community-oriented banks and other financial and community institutions,
the Twin Cities face overlapping and mutually reinforcing obstacles:
-
A significant
impediment to capital accumulation for residents.
-
A ‘credit
vacuum’ in which there are few alternatives to predatory lenders.
-
Rising
municipal costs and falling property values resulting from foreclosed
homes.
-
A diminished
capacity to catalyze investment in potential emerging market
neighborhoods
In consultation
with JCA leaders, several years ago the City of St. Paul established a
Socially Responsible Investment Fund. The $10 million fund purchased
CDs from banks that received an‘Outstanding’ rating on their most recent
CRA evaluation, and demonstrated an increased level of investment each
year in targeted low-income census tracts in St. Paul. Our goal in 2007
is to advocate for the establishment of similar CRA Deposit Funds in
Minneapolis, and Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. Having convened several
discussions of community reinvestment within the philanthropic and
higher education sectors, we also seek to involve leaders from those
fields in our ongoing work.
For more
information, please contact David Snyder at
david@jewishcommunityaction.org
Community
Reinvestment Brochure
(will open with Adobe Acrobat) Jump
to: Equal
Access
Living Wage
Ordinance Passes in Minneapolis
Equal
Access
By a vote of four-to-three, the St. Paul City Council passed a
resolution calling for a comprehensive review and audit of the
Department of Planning and Economic Development and the Housing
Redevelopment Authority. Such an audit would identify potential policy
changes that would ultimately create a fair and open process for how
development occurs within St. Paul.
This
audit is the first of a series of recommendations by the Equal Access
Working Group, of which Jewish Community Action is a member. Equal
Access’ goals are:
- To address the
inequities and ongoing problems confronting minority contractors who
attempt to gain access to St. Paul contracts; and
- To identify and to
recommend actions to eliminate the problems, barriers, and
impediments in St. Paul’s administration of laws governing the
awarding of contracts.
Work
to pass this resolution began in November 2003, when the St. Paul City
Council held a public hearing. The city learned that many contractors
and developers from communities of color reported difficulty of securing
contracts and bids, despite laws that had been passed to improve access.
Testimony indicated that access to contracts for businesses owned by
women and people with disabilities also lagged behind. A member of JCA
testified in support of organizations of color at this November hearing,
and JCA was then invited to serve on the Equal Access Working Group
created by the City Council. Besides JCA, Equal Access includes the St.
Paul NAACP, the Community Stabilization Project, the Minnesota Chapter
of the National Association of Minority Contractors, Kaposia, and Women
Venture.
Equal
Access RFP Resolution (will open with Adobe Acrobat Reader)
For more information, contact Vic
Rosenthal at JCA.
Living
Wage Ordinance passes in Minneapolis!
At a standing-room only City Council meeting, Council Members voted
11-2 to pass the Minneapolis Living Wage Ordinance proposed by a
coalition of 21 faith groups, community organizations, and labor
organizations, including Jewish Community Action. Voting no were Council
Members Niziolek and Lane. This represents a significant victory for
workers in Minneapolis and the cause of economic justice. Great work
done by a great coalition! You can read a full account of the Council
meeting and vote, along with analysis, at www.minneapolisunions.org.
Thank you to everyone who helped on this campaign!
For more information, contact David
Snyder at JCA. |
HEADLINES
FROM JCA
Community
Reinvestment
Hello JCA foreclosure
prevention supporters,
I'm happy to report
that we've had 16 volunteers take shifts this week-we are well on our
way to our goal, and should be able to finish up this stage of our
project if we can fill 20-25 more shifts by the end of next week! Please
reply to this email if you can take a shift (you'll find some existing
shifts below that you can join, or you can let us know when you're free,
and we should be able to have someone meet you and give you an
orientation to get you working!).
Our goal: to review 5,000 mortgages in Hennepin County, so we can
connect at-risk homeowners (with adjustable rate mortgages) with
foreclosure prevention resources before their rates go up. The next
stage will include a press conference, letters from the County to each
homeowner, and canvassers/trained volunteers going door to door to reach
out to these homeowners-knowing that foreclosure prevention counselors
are often able to negotiate loan modifications for 50-60% of their
clients, to help them stay in their homes!
VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE:
Monday June 23rd:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
Tuesday June 24th:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
Wednesday June 25th:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
Thursday June 26th:
Volunteers welcome all day for 2-3 hour shifts!
We will be meeting at the Hennepin County Government Center (300 S. 6th
St in downtown Minneapolis) for each shift, on the 5th floor of the
Administrative Tower, in the County Recorder's office. Just walk through
the door, turn left and at the end of a short hall you'll see a group of
computer terminals on your right. If you don't see anyone you know, feel
free to ask any staff person where to find us (they can give you an
orientation or contact Madeline Kastler, Commissioner Gail Dorfman's
aide).
Park at the underground lot beneath the Government Center (enter on 3rd
avenue just north of 6th St) and Madeline will give you a sticker for
free parking.
Please email me with any further questions, and otherwise I'll send out
another update (hopefully to announce that we've made it to 30 shifts or
that we've completed our review of the 5,000 mortgages and are ready for
the next stage!).
Thanks,
David Snyder
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