Community Development

Community development is a multifaceted concept. It consists of mustering all available resources to bring the benefits of modern society to communities lacking access to these benefits for reasons of poverty, lack of education and lack of political power. President Barack Obama was probably our most famous Community Organizer. He brought public awareness of the movement.

Originally, government officials practiced urban renewal as the preferred method of aiding impoverished neighborhoods. Massive housing projects, with subsidized rent, improved the living conditions of impoverished residents for a short time, but without jobs and improved education levels, conditions soon returned to normal. The grandiose housing projects, became subsidized slums, with the same crime and drug problems as previously.

In the 1960s, it was realized that urban renewal entailed more than constructing new buildings. Individuals like Senator Robert F. Kennedy helped form neighborhood nonprofit organizations, dedicated to promoting the physical and social betterment of low income residents who lacked political influence. Foundations like the Ford Foundation became involved.

Some of these nonprofit organizations are called Community Development Corporations, whose sole purpose is to better the lives of the disadvantaged. They promote economic development which supplies jobs for the people and gives them access to local shopping in new retail stores. They hold classes to address health issues. They organize citizen groups to compel government officials to force landlords to improve residential housing to meet required health and safety standards. They promote programs to ensure that children receive necessary vaccinations.

They organize food banks for the needy. They help neighborhoods apply for and obtain government grants that are available for community development.

A Community Development Bank can play a very important role in community improvement. A CDB is a commercial bank that is dedicated to the service of the residents of a low-to-moderate-income area. A CDB must be certified by the CDFIF, which is a U.S. Treasury department. A lot of people had to pay to even get a check cashed. A CDB supplies them with the traditional banking services plus funds for projects and locally owned businesses that improve the quality of life in under-served communities. This is the primary reason for the bank’s existence.