Voices Blog – News & views for the community development field

May 2023 Community Perspectives & Conditions
By Federal Reserve Community Development Staff
Here’s what nonprofit and community leaders, and workforce professionals serving lower-income people shared with the Federal Reserve for the May 2023 Beige Book.
Sold welcome mat
By Gabriella Chiarenza
Homeownership is an onramp to wealth for some Americans. For others, buying a house is out of reach. Here’s one way to pinpoint who is getting their foot in the door, and where.
Picture of pre-school aged children playing in classroom setting
By Fed Communities Staff
Families want quality early childhood education (ECE) but it’s often competitive to access and costly, especially for care during nontraditional hours. Providers face financial constraints of their own. What does recent research reveal? Watch or listen on demand.
A diverse group of preschoolers in a classroom.
By Benjamin Horowitz
Affordable, high-quality child care can be difficult for parents to access. Here is what Fed researchers have learned about supply constraints and demand challenges that hinder equitable access to quality child care.
Community Perspectives and Conditions April 2023
By Federal Reserve Community Development Staff
Here’s what nonprofit and community leaders, and workforce professionals serving lower-income people shared with the Federal Reserve for the April 2023 Beige Book.
Female worker at coffee shop ringing out customer
By Fed Communities Staff
Find out how small businesses are dealing with hiring challenges, supply chain disruptions, and rising costs, plus what credit access gaps remain now that pandemic-related funding programs have ended. Watch or listen on demand.
scenic seasonal landscape from above aerial view of a small town in countryside Cleveland Ohio US
By Leilani Barnett, Bonnie Blankenship, Jonathan Kivell, Carmi Recto
Creating affordable housing in low- and moderate-income communities in the United States is a major challenge. Find out how some districts are addressing the issue.
Federal Reserve CDFI Survey
By Carrie Cook
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are important to closing gaps in credit and capital access. The 2023 CDFI Survey aims to find out how CDFI demand and capacity have changed in the last two years.
Captured in a metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia primary school, this photograph depicts a typical classroom scene, where an audience of school children were seated on the floor before a teacher at the front of the room, who was reading an illustrated storybook, during one of the scheduled classroom sessions. Assisting the instructor were two female students to her left, and a male student on her right, who was holding up the book, while the seated classmates were raising their hands to answer questions related to the story just read.
By Fed Communities Staff
Child care is vital to supporting the financial wellbeing of workers, households, and communities. But despite their essential role in the economy, child care workers long have faced barriers to being valued at work and fairly compensated for their work.
Group of diverse multi-ethnic people communicating
By Jon Ford, Julie Siwicki, Jennifer Wilding
Communities benefit when research is conducted collaboratively with community members rather than to them. Here are five ways this approach, called participatory research, is different from a typical research process and how it benefits communities.