Reinvestment News Fall 2019
Building Local Wealth
Reinvestment Fund is supporting the expansion of the Jumpstart program, which helps start-up and small-scale property owners in Philadelphia redevelop housing in their neighborhoods. First piloted in the Germantown and Mt. Airy neighborhoods, Jumpstart offers training and a loan program that explicitly seeks to enable residents to invest and develop in their neighborhoods and build wealth locally. So far, 85% of participants in its training and loan program have been women and people of color, who are less likely to be able to secure affordable loan capital, and are both demographics that are underrepresented in real estate development. Through the program, they will rehab vacant properties and those in poor condition for rent or sale at prices that are affordable for existing neighborhood residents. Read more.
Preserving Health Care
Faith Family Medical Center (FFMC) is a full-service medical center in Nashville that provides comprehensive care for working uninsured and underinsured Tennesseans. Its unique donation-based model attracts patients that include construction and landscape workers, restaurant servers, childcare workers, taxi drivers, and others who don’t have access to employer-based health insurance or can’t afford their insurance deductibles. Reinvestment Fund financing is helping FFMC construct a new clinic that will enhance its primary care offerings, pharmacy, behavioral health services, and better integrate its wellness program. FFMC expects to support more than 4,000 patients annually with its new facility—at least 95% of whom are expected to be underinsured. Read more.
Evictions in Philadelphia
Reinvestment Fund’s updated study of evictions in Philadelphia found that the rate of eviction filings is dropping—by 10% from 2017 to 2018—which continues the decline that began in 2015. However, this trend is uneven across the city, with African American neighborhoods seeing higher filings than other neighborhoods. Rates are at least twice as high in areas where more than 40% of the population is African American. The study updates our analysis from 2017 along with new data on the court process and tenant outcomes. One stark finding when it comes to legal representation—only 10% of tenants had an attorney represent them in court, compared to 75% of plaintiffs. Philadelphia City Council is advancing a bill that would provide free legal counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction.
News & Resources
News: Reinvestment Fund announced $1.8 million in financial and technical assistance awards to 23 projects through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) inaugural grants program, supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Read more about one grantee, West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, in The Daily Yonder.
Report: New Reinvestment Fund study looks at the supply of and demand for infant and toddler care in Philadelphia. Among its findings—many providers want to expand capacity to care for our youngest children but lack the resources to do so.
News: Ground Up Podcast: Making difficult projects happen in Baltimore. Hear from Reinvestment Fund’s Dana Johnson on our investments in the city.
Article: Stakeholders across Louisiana are having more productive conversations about community needs and housing investments thanks to the Louisiana Housing Corporation’s new PolicyMap-powered data tool.
News: WHYY highlights new Philadelphia Food Justice Initiative–a partnership between the city’s Department of Public Health and Reinvestment Fund.
Article: Upholding Nowak’s Vision: Reinvestment Fund launches three initiatives in Jeremy Nowak’s honor that marry his singular commitment to thinking big—and doing even better. Read about it in The Philadelphia Citizen.
News: Cleveland selects Reinvestment Fund and other experts to evaluate its tax-abatement and development-incentives policies and recommend possible changes to the system.
Article: How do we ensure that the loans we make are moving the needle on larger social challenges? Reinvestment Fund CEO Don Hinkle-Brown shares his thoughts on a guest post for peer IFF’s blog.
News: Fund for Quality-supported early childhood education center featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer story on the adaptive reuse of a historic sacred space.
Resource: Could your communications be limiting your impact, undermining the case for equity, and possibly smearing those you seek to help? Read Trabian Shorters’ The Power of Perception: A Beginner’s Guide to Asset-Framing.
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