The recently published Investing in What Works for America’s Communities is a helpful and free resource for communities across the nation. Available for free pdf download, the book is an accessible tool that can be a guidepost for improving struggling communities and reducing poverty locally.
In the words of the publishers, “Investing in What Works for America’s Communities is a new book that calls on leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to build on what we know is working to move the needle on poverty. The book’s impressive list of authors represents a broad range of sectors including federal agencies, philanthropy, housing academia, health, and the private sector. This collection of essays provides dozens of innovative ideas that can bring new opportunities to America’s struggling communities. It calls on leaders, from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to recognize that they can work smarter and achieve more by working together.”
Drawing connections from poverty to community developments and poverty to health, the book highlights many aspects of communities that poverty has an effect on . There are chapters that cover community development in the past, present and future.
Chapters of note for those working in community development include the chapter “From Community to Prosperity”, written by Ben Hect, discusses how a community can prosper by changing the methods used to achieve success, rather than by changing the community’s goals.
Another chapter titled “The World Has Changed So Must We”, by Clara Miller, looks at the problem of communities not evolving with the world. Lessons could be easily taken from these chapters and applied to the communities of Baltimore.
This book was a joint project of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Low Income Investment Fund. The book is available for free pdf download or you can also request a free hard copy to be sent to you in the mail.
