What can communities actually do to increase the likelihood that Americans have real access to opportunity?
We invite you to follow our progress in the months ahead as we document what works in lives of low-income families as told by data and the gracious individuals participating in our studies.
by Shawn Flanigan To learn why the San Diego Housing Commission’s Achievement Academy – a suite of workforce development programs – is effective in supporting families receiving Section 8 vouchers, we continue conducting interviews in our longitudinal data collection with Achievement Academy families. Our conversations have put a spotlight on a Read more…
by Lisa Bates Across the street from Humboldt Gardens is a small apartment complex for families with a parent in recovery from substance or alcohol addiction, and the office where residents meet with their Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) caseworkers. There’s a Salvation Army and a Head Start nearby, Read more…
By Dr. Shawn Flanigan Recently, as part of my interdisciplinary freshman Honors course at San Diego State University titled “Housing, Home, and Homeland,” I had my twenty-six students spend several weeks reading and discussing Matthew Desmond’s renowned book Evicted, and then gave them an assignment to code an interview from Access Read more…
By Emily Lieb What’s in a neighborhood? Scholars (and realtors) agree: Where a person lives determines how much access to opportunity she has. Good schools, safe streets, high-quality housing that appreciates in value, accessible jobs and services, clean air and water—all of these things make it possible for people to Read more…
by Lisa K. Bates When thinking about assessing the impact of Humboldt Gardens’ GOALS program, which is the project‘s version of HUD‘s Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), it is useful to know the program‘s context. The concept of FSS is straightforward — parents participate in programming designed to promote employment and Read more…
By Alexandra Metz In San Diego, the Access to Opportunity project is engaged in a comparative analysis of three programs that are part of the Achievement Academy at the San Diego Housing Commission. As part of the Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program, the Achievement Academy offers workshops and counseling, as Read more…
By Emily Lieb A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH), a partnership that pools funds from 15 cities in east King County in order to increase the supply of affordable housing in the region, is not like any other housing-advocacy organization in the United States. There’s a great deal we can Read more…
By Dr. Lisa K. Bates I was dropped off at college in Washington DC with the typical family admonition to middle-class black kids—always do 200% and don’t let them see you sweat. It is surprising to those who know me now, but for the first few years I didn’t speak in Read more…
By Dr. Shawn Flanigan When I was asked to join the Access to Opportunity Project, I did not hesitate to say “yes”. Because of my own lived experience, I have committed my adult life to improving the plight of poor people and communities. I come from a low-income family in Read more…
by Dr. Raphael Bostic, President & Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Professor, University of Southern California, Price School of Public Policy and Sheryl Whitney, Partner, Whitney Jennings In our last post, which also happened to be our first post, we introduced the Access to Opportunity project, including the Read more…
by Dr. Raphael Bostic, President & Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Professor, University of Southern California, Price School of Public Policy and Sheryl Whitney, Partner, Whitney Jennings Opportunity. It has become the buzz word for policymakers across the political spectrum. From Paul Ryan to Barack Obama and Bernie Read more…