Breaking the Cycle: From Poverty to Financial Security for All
Overview
This report explores and provides examples of how key changes to components of the financial, education, justice, health, and tax systems can strengthen—rather than undermine—households’ financial security, and increase economic inclusion.
It describes innovative approaches that integrate a focus on building financial security across programs, while reforming the systems that most affect the balance sheets of lower-income families and families of color. The featured approaches run the gamut from small local programs to state and federal policy reforms and initiatives. These innovations and the changes that they represent to key systems may be adapted and expanded to strengthen the financial security of vulnerable people and communities nationwide.
April 2019
An Equity Profile of Pinellas County
Overview
Mirroring national trends, Pinellas County in Florida is becoming more diverse. In the next few decades, the majority of the county’s residents will be people of color from a rich variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. As a result, the success and prosperity of the county rely on dismantling unjust barriers and ensuring that everyone can participate in and enjoy the benefits of a thriving economy. This profile illustrates how disparities in income, housing, educational attainment, and many other areas are costing Pinellas County billions of dollars in potential economic growth each year. In addition, the accompanying summary offers several promising strategies that have been used across the country to eliminate barriers and advance equity. Both the profile and summary were developed by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC, in partnership with UNITE Pinellas. Read the profile and summary.
Media: Report: With Population Shifts on the Way, Pinellas Needs to Change (Tampa Bay Times), Study: Addressing Racial Inequities Would Boost Pinellas County GDP by $3.6 Billion (St. Pete Catalyst), First-ever Countywide Equity Assessment Spotlights Need for Change (Tampa Bay Newspapers), Insight Action, Not Data Collection, Required to Create Nutrition Equity in St. Petersburg (St. Pete Catalyst)
February 2019
Equitable Growth Profile of the City of Long Beach
Overview
Like other cities in Southern California, Long Beach became a majority people-of-color city decades ago, ahead of the national trend, and the pace of change is now slowing. Today, seven in 10 Long Beach residents are people of color, yet persistent inequities by race, gender, and geography threaten the city’s economic vitality. Embracing diversity as an asset and advancing equity is the city’s path to a prosperous future. This profile is designed to be a resource for all seeking to enhance prosperity for everyone in Long Beach, including advocacy groups, government agencies, elected officials, funders, business and civic leaders, and more. The summary report that accompanies this profile highlights leading indicators and offers policy recommendations. PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California are grateful to Citi Community Development for their generous support of this project. Read the profile, summary, and fact sheet (English, Spanish, Tagalog, Khmer), and see the press release.
Media: Lessons From California’s Diverse Cities (US News & World Report)
November 2018
Water, Health, and Equity
Overview
Water, Health and Equity explains why America’s water infrastructure is failing and describes the impacts of those failures on public health in low-income communities and communities of color. It proposes policy solutions, developed and advocated by the Clean Water for All coalition, which -- if implemented -- could create a national water infrastructure that works for everyone.
October 2018
Advancing Health Equity and Inclusive Growth in Cincinnati
Overview
As home to nine Fortune 500 companies, and new investment in neighborhoods such as Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati is poised for an economic renaissance. But not all residents are benefiting from this recovery. Persistent racial and gender inequities are preventing many residents, particularly women of color, from thriving. This profile illustrates how disparities in income, housing, educational attainment, and many other areas are costing the Cincinnati region billions of dollars in potential economic growth each year. In addition, the accompanying policy brief offers a series of recommendations designed to close some of these gaps. They were developed by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC, in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Interact for Health, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read the profile, policy brief, and fact sheet, and see the press release.
Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies of Healthful Foods for Small Retail Food Stores
Overview
The healthfulness of foods and beverages found in retail food stores differs widely across the United States, both by location of the store as well as by store type. Communities with predominantly white residents have two to four
times more supermarkets and large-chain grocery stores than communities of color. In contrast, lower-income and communities of color have more small food outlets, such as small food stores (‘corner stores’) and convenience stores. These small food stores primarily tend to sell prepackaged foods and beverages that are high in calories and poor in nutrients. They are also less likely to sell healthy, staple foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich
foods, and low-fat dairy products.
Thus, some communities have limited access to stores that carry healthful foods, and these limitations likely contribute, at least in part, to disparities in diet and health. As such, several strategies are now being implemented in many locations across the
United States to increase access to healthy foods in underserved communities.
October 2016
Advancing Equitable Transit-Oriented Development through Community Partnerships and Public Sector Leadership
Overview
This report spotlights four regional eTOD case studies and different approaches to support more inclusive growth. In Denver, a multi-sector coalition pioneered a new funding tool to acquire land near transit for equitable development. In Los Angeles, the transit agency has adopted bold new policies that commit its resources to ensuring affordable housing is developed on agency-owned real estate assets. In Minneapolis – Saint Paul, philanthropy stepped forward to strategically invest resources in a set of comprehensive community building efforts while also serving as an intermediary between public, private and community stakeholders. And in Seattle, the City is working to address workforce development and commercial stabilization among some of its most ethnically diverse transit-served communities.
Each of the four case studies provide lessons learned for other communities, including:
- Transit agencies can set the bar for equitable TOD.
- Publicly-held land assets create powerful leverage point.
- Make racial equity an explicit goal.
- Measure impact to tell your story.
- History and Culture Matter
- Collaboration and patience pay off.
- Transit is about more than just a line.
Perspectives of Urban Corner Store Owners and Managers on Community Health Problems and Solutions
Overview
Urban corner store interventions have been implemented to improve access to and promote purchase of healthy foods. However, the perspectives of store owners and managers, who deliver and shape these interventions in collaboration with nonprofit, government, and academic partners, have been largely overlooked. We sought to explore the views of store owners and managers on the role of their stores in the community and their beliefs about health problems and solutions in the community.
Household Food Security in the United States in 2015
Overview
In 2015, 42.2 million people in 15.8 million households were food insecure at some point during the year, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service in the new report Household Food Security in the United States in 2015. The concept of “food security” is used by the USDA to measure a household’s ability to access adequate food. Today’s data show a decrease in the number of households impacted by food insecurity from 2014, but 12.7 percent of households still experienced food insecurity, highlighting the fact that too many families with low incomes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs.