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Working Paper
Strengthening financial education in California: Expanding personal finance training among youth
Cross explores multiple options for expanding personal finance training among youth in California, including statewide legislation or education code changes for financial education, professional development and training for teachers on personal finance concepts, and school district adoption of financial preparedness curriculum.
Working Paper
What can we do to help? Adopting age-friendly banking to improve financial well-being for older adults
This paper explores age-friendly banking products and services that better protect and preserve the assets of an aging population. In order to examine the unique financial needs and increase the financial well-being of low-income older adults, the California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) partnered with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) to conduct an intensive study of over 400 low-income tenants living in subsidized senior housing. CCRH and NCRC recommend that banks develop more affordable banking products for seniors on fixed-incomes, assist customers in applying for ...
Working Paper
Navigating uncertainty and growing jobs: considering small employer firm resilience during challenging economic times
How have certain small employer firms demonstrated resiliency despite ongoing economic uncertainty? This study considers the organizational capabilities of small employer firms operating in low- and moderate-income (LMI) census tract areas. Based on the limited evidence gathered in this mixed-methods study, the authors propose that resiliency, defined in this study as a company?s ability to act effectively in response to uncertain economic conditions such that the firm maintains or expands its workforce, depends strongly on five organizational capabilities. These are: (1) the effective use of ...
Working Paper
The Community Reinvestment Act and small business lending in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods during the financial crisis
Over the last three years, the financial crisis and ensuing recession have led to tectonic shifts in the availability of credit, especially for small businesses. Data show that the number of loans to small businesses has dropped from 5.2 million loans in 2007 to 1.6 million in 2009. This trend is of significant concern to policy-makers, particularly given the important role that small businesses play in the US economy. Making credit accessible to small businesses, therefore, is seen as a critical component of economic recovery. Despite this policy focus, however, few studies have documented ...
Working Paper
Lessons on cross-sector community development: the Las Vegas Healthy Communities Coalition
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, launched the ?Healthy Communities? initiative in 2010 to explore how the health and community development sectors can collaborate. A regional meeting took place in Las Vegas in January 2012, which led to the formation of the Las Vegas Healthy Communities Coalition (LVHCC), a collective impact initiative with a mission to ?foster collaboration and coordination across multiple sectors and stakeholders, to generate healthy outcomes for all Southern Nevadans.? This report details the formation and ...
Working Paper
When Home is the Most Dangerous Place: How a Community Development Organization Learned to Get the Lead Out
The debacle of lead-poisoned children in Flint, Michigan reminded us of the insidious and permanent impact of this toxic poison on a child?s brain. However, millions of children (and seniors) living in older homes, especially ones with flaking paint, are still being lead poisoned. Today, the vast majority of children who become poisoned by lead come from lower-income families of color?those least able to shoulder this added burden. This is where community-based nonprofit organizations?especially the 1,000+ groups that weatherize and retrofit older homes across the country?can step in and play ...
Working Paper
From cashing checks to building assets: a case study of the check cashing/credit union hybrid service model
This case study examines the pilot effort of Community Trust Prospera (CT Prospera), a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, to combine the accessible services of a check-casher with the longer-term depository and lending relationship opportunities of a mainstream financial institution. CT Prospera is based upon the ?micro branch? business model, which centers around a retail branch that has a small physical footprint, similar to a check cashing outlet, and is designed to create an inviting, safe, and accessible environment for clients who may not feel comfortable entering a traditional ...
Working Paper
The effects of the real estate bust on renter perceptions of homeownership
After almost a decade of strong price appreciation, the housing market fell into a steep decline in 2007. By 2008, foreclosure filings on owner-occupied homes were surpassing record levels. Due to the housing downturn, fewer renters may aspire to own a home, which could have lasting implications for neighborhoods and household asset building. This study analyzes the impact of the housing downturn on renters? intent to purchase a home, their perceptions of the risks and benefits of homeownership, and their interest in information and advice concerning homeownership. ; Based on a survey of 400 ...
Working Paper
Peer-to-peer lending and community development finance
Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks directly connect computer users online. Popular P2P platforms include eBay and Craigslist, for example, which have transformed the market for used consumer goods in recent years. Increasingly popular, however, are P2P lending sites that facilitate debt transactions by directly connecting borrowers and lenders on the Internet. In the summer of 2008, the Center for Community Development Investments assembled a working group of community development leaders, investors, and Prosper Marketplace, the largest P2P lending platform in the world, to discuss the potential ...
Working Paper
Financial education in San Francisco: a study of local practioners, service gaps and promising practices
The landscape of financial education services in San Francisco is broad, with multiple organizations offering services for diverse populations. However, until recently, there has been little effort to coordinate the many resources and organizations committed to promoting financial education. The recently formed San Francisco Financial Education Network is a collaborative group of nonprofit service providers, philanthropic funders, and local public sector representatives dedicated to improving the provision of financial education services in the city. Network participants agreed there is ...