Rebuilding Economies of Poor Neighborhoods

Spent time yesterday with Darryl Graves, and a team from Ohio’s Office of Re-entry in the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. We can do so much better to build positive community networks to help returning citizens: people who have paid their debt to society through incarceration.

REBUILDING THE ECONOMIES OF POOR NEIGHBORHOODS

Addressing this challenge is especially important for rebuilding the economies in poorer neighborhoods. A disproportionate number of returning citizens return to these neighborhoods.

As economists at the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank have noted: “The employment challenges of returning citizens are an important economic development issue in many low-income communities throughout the country.”

For example, in Cleveland 80% of the 3,000 returning citizens each year return to just five inner-city neighborhoods

BUILDING SKILLS OF COLLABORATION: LESSONS FROM FLINT

I spoke about the importance of teaching the skills of collaboration — #strategicdoing — that can be learned, practiced, and mastered by anyone.

For the past ten years, a core team in Flint has been shifting the development dynamic in a poor neighborhood in North Flint. Some years ago, we convened our core team as we started our journey. Now, over ten years later, we are seeing results.

Bob Brown from Michigan State University first invited us to address the challenges of reducing teenage homicides. We continue that work. In the wake of the water crisis, the core team began working on the challenge of developing a better food system.

Why?

Because fresh fruits and vegetables mitigate the impact of lead on children. Check out the work of Artina Sadler and the Fresh Food Hub: https://flintfresh.org