Stories
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Investing in community expertise, Tennessee takes on the benefits cliff
Find out how a pilot program in Nashville, Tennessee plans to help 900 families overcome the benefits cliff.
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![[Watch] Investing in community expertise, Tennessee takes on the benefits cliff](https://fedcommunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/mackeisha-jenkins-1920x1280-1.jpg?w=1024)
[Watch] Investing in community expertise, Tennessee takes on the benefits cliff
In this 3-minute documentary, get to know people participating in a pilot program in Nashville, Tennessee that expects to help 900 families navigate benefits cliffs.
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The essential role of those who’ve been there in Maine’s approach to the benefits cliff
Experts and policymakers reveal steps they’re taking in Maine to effect change within a challenging system with help from those who’ve navigated benefits cliffs.
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![[Watch] ‘I’ve been there’: How those who’ve faced the benefits cliff drive change](https://fedcommunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/kandie-cleaves-1920x1280-1.jpg?w=1024)
[Watch] ‘I’ve been there’: How those who’ve faced the benefits cliff drive change
Facing a benefits cliff can make accepting a new or better job surprisingly difficult. Hear from three advocates in Maine who are using their own experiences to change things for the better.
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A hand up, not a handout, to cross the benefits cliff
Losing public assistance benefits when their income goes up incentivizes some workers to stay in low-paying jobs. It discourages others who are willing to work from joining the workforce. Explore the issue and what’s being done.
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Native CDFI Network uses Federal Reserve data to highlight the impact of investing in Indian Country
“Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) know the needs of the communities they serve. Placing the funds in the hands of those CDFIs produces better results,” says Pete Upton, Executive Director for the Native360 Loan Fund and interim CEO for the Native CDFI Network (NCN).
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Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
Experience Investment Connection—from pitch to impact—with small business owners, community organizers, and bankers, and the Federal Reserve community development experts bringing them together.
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Chapter 1: The Pitch | Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
“Banks and nonprofits need mutually beneficial relationships,” says Paul Woodruff. Investment Connection encourages organizations to highlight what both the nonprofits and the banks have to gain.
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Chapter 2: The Partnership | Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
The loan purchase program was a pilot, a new model that Dan Fagan hoped more banks could adopt. “We just decided that we were going to plow forward.”
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Chapter 3: The Impact | Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
In 2011, Ariel Cisneros from the Kansas City Fed invited Rob Smith to pitch at Investment Connection. In the three years following the event, Smith raised about $300,000. The funding came at a pivotal moment.