The pandemic is highlighting the crucial necessity of community developers’ work. Here’s what the field will need to play its part in the recovery.
One month ago, when I began the first draft of this article, the world was drastically different. Well before we became part of this new reality, I felt an urgency to reflect and speak up about the future to make sure the value of our work doesn’t get lost. Now that urgency has grown.
Throughout my life, I’ve been fortunate to work with practitioners and leaders who have always known that we have a shared responsibility to eradicate inequality. We fight hard for what we know to be right—equitable communities that have good schools, are free of crime and disinvestment, and that are affordable, accessible, healthy, and happy. On most days, our fight already feels like an uphill battle.
Then, history puts a cherry on it. An unprecedented outbreak happens, and our fight is dwarfed by a public health emergency. Overnight, everyone’s priorities change, millions are out of work, and we all try to adjust to life and establish some semblance of a new normal. Yet while we do this the work refuses to wait.
Right now, I, like many of you, don’t need to be CEO as much as I need to be Mom.
But, the fact is that I am both—and I’m not taking any days off. The fight for equity still looms large, and COVID-19 is increasing its relevance. If we treat this crossroads like an opportunity, and not like an Armageddon, perhaps we can make advances in that fight as we make our way through the recovery.
The pandemic has amplified issues that community development organizations have been struggling with regarding the funding environment for our work for ages. To help realign America’s social contract, reimagine communities of opportunity, and endure this COVID-19-affected environment, we need our supporters to:
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research