Insights

This report examines programs that aim to influence individual food choices, provides context to understand the related issues and presents a summary of evidence-based strategies that encourage healthy shopping and eating habits in populations for whom the issue of access has been resolved. Through a review of the relevant literature this document summarizes research findings, offers recommendations for further research—with particular focus on intervention strategies within the personal food environment—and highlights programs that, based on the literature, we think have promise. This research was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation under its Civic Sites initiative.

Presentation by Ira Goldstein, Reinvestment Fund’s President of Policy Solutions to the Women in Real Estate (WREN) on CDFIs, lending, research & practice.

Presentation by Ira Goldstein at the Center for Community Progress 2013 conference on Reclaiming Vacant Properties. Dr. Goldstein presented on a panel  titled “Filling out the Tool Box: Market-Smart Approaches for Dealing with Vacant Houses.”

This report seeks to identify new areas for lending and technical assistance that would have a direct impact on how a local industry sources its products. More specifically, this report provides tables and graphic illustrations of the potential geographic and economic flow of meat products, as they move through the supply chain. The model does not represent the actual flow of products through the supply chain, but rather identifies economic relationships that would minimize the distance that meat travels from farms to processors (at multiple stages) before it is distributed to wholesale and retail outlets.

Presentation made to the Campbell’s Soup Food Advisory Committee as part of Reinvestment Fund’s research on Camden, New Jersey’s food economy. Topics include an overview of Reinvestment Fund’s food-related work in Camden, an analysis of Camden’s socioeconomic characteristics relative to peer cities, and an economic base analysis of Camden, with particular attention to food-related industries and strategies for increasing economic output.

Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein presented data on the 5-year accomplishments of Philadelphia’s Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program at the anniversary celebration on June 12, 2013. Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, headlined the event alongside a homeowner in foreclosure whose home was saved by the program. The event was attended by several hundred people and was covered by numerous media outlets including ABC News and Philly.com.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

Reinvestment Fund analyzed Pennsylvania’s Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) with support from the William Penn Foundation. The summary findings include that from 2008 to 2010, HEMAP saved more than 6,100 Pennsylvania homeowners from foreclosure. The number of homes saved from foreclosure by HEMAP amounted to between 4.6% and 5.1% of the total inventory of homes in foreclosure. The report also found that the program averted a combined $480 million in financial impact of foreclosures.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

Chapter on the Market Value Analysis by Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein in Putting Data to Work: Data-Driven Approaches to Strengthening Neighborhoods, a publication of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chapter uses Reinvestment Fund’s MVA for Baltimore as the working example.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

Part of training materials prepared for the CDFI Fund and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Financing Healthy Food Options initiative. The initiative was designed to build the CDFI industry’s capacity to finance projects that increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Based on Reinvestment Fund’s healthy food financing experience, we developed a curriculum for training workshops and created an implementation handbook advising CDFIs how to underwrite supermarkets and capitalize such initiatives.

With grants from the Open Society Institute and the William Penn Foundation, Reinvestment Fund assessed the outcomes and impacts of the Philadelphia Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program. As part of the study, we reviewed Court Orders on nearly 16,000 cases handled by the Diversion Program from inception through March of 2011 and conducted interviews with homeowners as well as experts.

Reinvestment Fund’s 2011 Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) analysis estimates that 24.6 million Americans live in areas with inadequate access to supermarkets. This analysis was conducted with support from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), as part of its Financing Healthy Food Options Track, in partnership with Opportunity Finance Network. Read the summary report to understand the analysis and read highlights or download the full report.

Courts and advocates across the country have dedicated significant resources to the development of diversion/mediation processes designed to facilitate homeowner participation in the foreclosure process. With funding from the Open Society Institute and the William Penn Foundation, Reinvestment Fund has sought to help answer the question: what is the effect of this work – does mediation make a difference? This paper was shared during an interactive webinar hosted by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).

Chapter by Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein for the book REO & Vacant Properties: Strategies for Neighborhood Stabilization, a joint publication of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and Cleveland and the Federal Reserve Board. Dr. Goldstein’s chapter discusses using the MVA as a means to strategize the targeting of resources under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The Redevelopment and Housing Authorities of the County of Cumberland (RHACC) contracted with Reinvestment Fund to gather and analyze housing and economic data descriptive of Cumberland and Perry counties. The data is tabulated and mapped / charted in this presentation. A summary of the report is also available.

A study funded by the William Penn Foundation, that measures school quality in Philadelphia and quantifies its impact on the value of Philadelphia residential real estate. Findings indicate that elementary school test scores play a significant role in the prediction of sales price, even after controlling for neighborhood and individual home conditions.

Findings of a study conducted for the School District of Philadelphia designed to estimate the percent of Philadelphia public school students who are income-qualified for free or reduced price lunches. Eligibility was based on the United States Department of Agriculture’s “Income Eligibility Guidelines.” Both the report and a summary version can be found here.

Presentation by Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein as part of Picking Up the Pieces: Partnering with Faith-based Organizations to Respond to the Housing Crisis presented to the Homeownership Counseling Association of Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporation, and the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

Reinvestment Fund helped DCED develop its NSP plans by devising a data-driven method for prioritizing where funds should be spent within each county to increase the likelihood of market stability. This presentation shows how to use this in-depth analysis as well as the host of GIS data in www.policymap.com to better understand foreclosure and market dynamics. Presented at the 2009 PA Chapter of American Planning Association Annual Conference, “Investing in a Sustainable Future” by Ira Goldstein and Elizabeth Nash.

Commissioned by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLB) and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, Reinvestment Fund studied the impact of changes in the housing and mortgage markets on Hispanics in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The analysis focuses in Berks, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania and New Castle County in Delaware. Together these counties are home to more than 60% of the Hispanics in the region.  Also included in this study was a review of the available housing counseling resources, and counseling specifically available to those persons for whom Spanish is their primarily language. Reinvestment Fund’s research partner on this project is the National Council of La Raza.

Analysis of Baltimore’s commercial real estate markets conducted with the City of Baltimore as part of its efforts to develop a citywide Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). Reinvestment Fund helped create a method for indexing all of Baltimore’s commercial corridors to provide the public and private sectors an analytic tool to understand the nature and strengths of each.

Congressional testimony in support of increasing funding for the National Endowment for the Arts by our former CEO, Jeremy Nowak.

Brief authored by Susan Seifert and Mark Stern, University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact of the Arts Project, uses a social policy lens to look at the impact and potential of the creative economy for urban neighborhoods. While the growth of the creative sector is helping to regenerate regional economies, it is also exacerbating economic inequality and social exclusion among urban residents. This brief reviews current trends and proposes a new model–a neighborhood-based creative economy–as a way to move the 21st century city toward shared prosperity and social integration.

Resulting from Reinvestment Fund’s collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) and the Rockefeller Foundation, this report demonstrates that the intrinsic value of arts and culture can be a key ingredient in neighborhood revitalization by nurturing a wide range of local assets, building social capital and promoting entrepreneurial and civic growth. The publication calls for investing in community-based creative activity to enhance its place-making role and potential, and offers investment ideas for three specific areas: creativity, development and knowledge.

Resulting from Reinvestment Fund’s collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) and the Rockefeller Foundation, this publication provides a summary of the report on Creativity and Neighborhood Development: Strategies for Community Investment.

Presentation by Ira Goldstein at the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices Summit on Foreclosures and Housing Solutions.

Paper commissioned by Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity that explores the civil rights aspect of foreclosures. The paper draws from Reinvestment Fund’s work in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and looks at the role deregulation and the lack of federal law enforcement played in creating the subprime lending and mortgage foreclosure crisis.

Study of mortgage foreclosure filings in Newark, NJ for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. This report distills recent trends in mortgage origination, delinquency and foreclosures in Newark from a variety of data sources. It provides a context of changes in the local real estate market to assist policymakers design an appropriate set of responses to counter the adverse impacts of foreclosures in Newark.

Presentation by Ira Goldstein about the Market Value Analysis (MVA). The presentation was part of a session at the Federal Reserve Board of Philadelphia’s 2008 Conference, “Reinventing Older Communities: How Does Place Matter?”

An increase in the delinquency rate for all mortgages in the District of Columbia over 2007 have resulted in more home foreclosures. Foreclosures can have a negative imact on neighborhoods and the entire city. This study offers an overview of subprime lending; a look at subprime lending in DC; and recommendations for how DC can help current and future borrowers. The study was conducted for the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.

Study of mortgage foreclosures in New Jersey for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the Ford Foundation. Our singular purpose was to add a measure of systematic and objective data analysis to the mortgage foreclosure problem facing New Jersey. As is often the case, by the time the study is complete, the problem is not what it was when the study began. That is uniquely true in this instance. The overall magnitude of the mortgage foreclosure problem, nationally and in New Jersey, has increased substantially over the last 18 months.

Analysis of the impact of new supermarket development on consumers and their surrounding communities. The study looks at three potential impacts: improved real estate value, new investment and lower prices.

Detailed local case study of predatory lending that includes the analysis of complete mortgage and sale histories for 15,500 properties in the city of Philadelphia from 2000 to 2003 as well as interviews with a broad range of subject experts.

Report by by Susan Seifert and Mark Stern, University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact of the Arts Project, which serves as the foundation study for the Reinvestment Fund-SIAP collaboration and writings.

Funded by the Goldseker Foundation, this study looks at mortgage foreclosures in Baltimore, Maryland. The study looks at mortgage foreclosures over a five year period, describing causes and patterns that have emerged.

In-depth study of mortgage foreclosure filings in Pennsylvania. The study was conducted for the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, expanding on Reinvestment Fund’s analysis from 2004 of the foreclosure epidemic in the Poconos’ Monroe County.

Case study that examines the social and economic impacts of rental housing developed in a section of West Philadelphia by Neighborhood Restorations (NRLP), Reinvestment Fund’s largest affordable housing borrower.

Study of the Free Tax Assistance program Reinvestment Fund offered employees of its portfolio companies. In addition to tax preparation, the program helped low-income wage earners claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) they were eligible for. This study examines the effectiveness of the program.

Study for Housing Opportunities, Inc., with funding from The Heinz Endowments. This report seeks to answer critical questions regarding the low rates of African American homeownership in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

A report by the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia that proposes ten fixes to improve and streamline the development process in Philadelphia. The report aims to eliminate or change steps in the process that unnecessarily add to the cost of a home and otherwise deter developers from building or rehabilitating houses in the city.

Working paper on how some borrowers end up with subprime mortgages and the extent to which those loans serve the true financial needs of those borrowers.

Reinvestment Fund’s thorough analysis of foreclosures in Monroe County, PA’s second fastest growing county, provides the facts for State action on the crisis.

A follow-up to Flight or Fight, this agenda proposes three tangible state policy shifts that would have an immediate and significant impact on the region’s growth patterns.