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Program Summary:
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Founded in 1968, the Center for Community Change grew out of the collaborative efforts and funding
support of such partners as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Fund, the Ford
Foundation, and leaders of the United Auto Workers. It helps establish and develop
community organizations across the country, bring attention to major
national issues related to poverty, and insure that government programs
are responsive to community needs. Policy and organizing expertise is
available on a range of issue areas, including: community reinvestment,
affordable and public housing, transportation, income support and job
creation, economic development and housing production, hunger and malnutrition, immigrant rights and legislation,
and community monitoring efforts to hold government agencies accountable
to residents. Currently a wide variety of foundations and
individuals provide funding for the Center’s work.
The Center has a history of community organizing
in low-income communities, encompassing urban and rural areas, and
African American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and immigrant
populations. In addition, the Center has catalyzed grassroots coalitions
that were instrumental in the creation of the federal Food Stamps
Program, the enactment of the Community Reinvestment Act, the growth of
Community Development Corporations, and the large-scale preservation of
affordable housing. National organizations incubated by the Center
include The Coalition on Human Needs, The
Workforce Alliance, The Environmental Support Center, The Rural Coalition,
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, and The National
Campaign for Jobs and Income Support.
In its policy work, the Center analyzes and
translates policies keeping in mind low-income and minority constituencies, and works to strengthen
the capacity of grassroots groups to impact policies at the local,
metropolitan, state and national level. The groups that receive
assistance focus on subjects that affect a broad swath of very low- to
moderate-income people.
A number of special projects are operated by the
Center. For example, the Mott
Emerging Organizations Program supports emerging community organizing
groups in low-income areas. Applicants must be less than 5 years old, have a budget under $100,000 and fewer than five
staff, be engaged in or developing a program of grassroots community
organizing, be located in a low-income community and have members,
volunteers and board members from that community; be from the states of
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Wyoming,
Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, and the District
of Columbia; and preferably work on more than one issue. Assistance consists of a $3,000 –
$10,000 grant, training and technical assistance, and participation in an
annual Mott grantees networking conference. Groups may receive support
from this program for up to three years.
The Center’s Education Team supports grassroots
organizing for public school reform, assisting with organizing campaigns,
networking among community organizations,
investigation of state and federal policy developments, and more. The Center’s on-line Action
Guide for Education Organizing helps experienced community organizers who
are new to the arena of school reform think through the context in which the
work takes place, gather information on policy and funding, and review
examples of campaigns, issues, strategies and tactics. Additionally, Partnerships for Change
brings community organizations and local teachers’ unions together to
learn from each other and to support joint work in order to improve
public education, particularly for low-income students and children of
color.
The Fair Immigration Reform Movement
(FIRM) is led by low-income immigrant and
non-immigrant grassroots community organizations working for immigration
reform and immigrant rights. FIRM broadens the framework of
immigration and immigrant rights to include an anti-poverty agenda. The
coalition consists of organizing networks, statewide immigrant rights
coalitions, and faith-based and low-income groups.
The Center’s Housing
Trust Fund Project (HTFP) is the nation’s only comprehensive
clearinghouse for information on and assistance with housing trust funds
throughout the country. It
provides technical assistance for organizations and agencies working to
create or implement these funds. Since the Project’s inception, housing
trust funds have become one of the leading vehicles for addressing
critical housing needs in the U.S. These funds have demonstrated their
ability to provide flexible funding for the preservation and development
of affordable housing, and can thrive throughout economic hardships and
tough political climates. Community-based nonprofits working individually
or in coalitions to create a housing trust fund receive information,
on-site technical assistance, and ongoing advice and help from the
Center.
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