There was an interesting article in the Philadelphia Inquirer today reporting on analysis of the 2007 BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey that shows that the poor are in some respects the most generous in charitable giving. The poorest fifth of America’s households (and we’re talking here about households with an average income of less than $11,000) [...]
Archive for May, 2009
Who are the most generous among us?
Posted in General, Poverty, tagged Philanthropy, Poverty on May 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Can microfinance work in the U.S.?
Posted in General, Poverty, tagged microcredit, microfinance, Poverty on May 22, 2009 | 1 Comment »
When most people hear “microcredit” or “microfinance,” they think of efforts to addressing poverty in the developing world, as in the village banking model popularized by Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and others. The United Nations designated 2005 the International Year of Micro-credit, and Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, won the Nobel Peace Prize in [...]
Los Angeles Foreclosures
Posted in Affordable Housing, Data, Los Angeles, tagged Foreclosures, Housing, Los Angeles on May 18, 2009 | 2 Comments »
We hear nearly everyday about the growing number of foreclosures in our country, particularly in boom-and-bust markets like Los Angeles. This chart provides a historical picture that shows what a unique moment we are in. In the last LA housing bust during the early 1990s, foreclosures doubled from under 15,000 in 1992 to over 33,000 [...]
Skid Row on the silver screen
Posted in Homelessness, Los Angeles, tagged Homelessness, Los Angeles, Nathaniel Ayers, Steve Lopez, The Soloist on May 12, 2009 | 3 Comments »
With some trepidation I finally saw “The Soloist” movie last week. Knowing that it was based on a true story and book I really liked and would be a visual representation of complicated issues and problems that are easy to stereotype and over-simplify, I was prepared to not like this movie. My verdict? I give [...]
Philanthropic patience
Posted in General, Homelessness, tagged Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Foundations, Homelessness, mental health, Philanthropy on May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
For those of us who have toiled to raise funds from philanthropic foundations to support community efforts, the above words may seem at first to be oxymoronic (like “military intelligence” or “honest politician”). Foundations are famous for having a specific type of attention deficit disorder that looks for just the latest and greatest innovation and [...]
Consequences of unemployment
Posted in Employment, Los Angeles, tagged California, Child support, Employment, Los Angeles on May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We’re familiar with the normal consequences of layoffs and unemployment: lost income, health insurance and increased stress and anxiety. The LA Times had an interesting article this week highlighting how “California’s rising unemployment rate is driving a steep increase in child support cases, as the newly jobless appeal for increases in monthly payments or argue [...]
