Stories

Affordable Housing

  • A Proven Way to Battle Rural America’s Poverty

    This originally appeared as an op-ed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy on July 11, 2018.

    A county in Mississippi with a 28 percent poverty rate is about to boast the state’s first and only year-round, fully accessible camp for disabled children and adults. A rural county in South Carolina will soon have a dedicated high school to prepare students for health careers...

  • "As the South Grows" series highlights opportunity in the region

    The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and Grantmakers for Southern Progress have teamed up on a series of reports highlighting some of the promising systematic change efforts at work across the South. MRBF supported the project and Program Director Lavastian Glenn served on the advisory committee.

    As the South Grows highlights stories of potential, impact and...

    As the South Grows
  • Signs of Progress in 2017

    There’s no denying the past year brought formidable challenges for the organizations and networks working tirelessly to increase social and economic justice across the South. As our grantee partners embark on another year striving to shape a more equitable future, it seems especially important to reflect on a few of the victories they achieved.

    Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice...
    Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
  • Sparking Development where it’s Needed Most

    Big-money real estate developers are flocking to the American South, lured by aggressive economic development policies, generous tax incentives, lax regulations, low-cost land, cheap labor and a booming population. Investors are pouring considerable dollars into large real estate funds that typically target the same five to ten big cities. These dominance of these so-called “mega-funds,” which...

  • Investing in Opportunity: Georgia’s Civic Engagement Network

    Like much of the South, Georgia is a racially diverse state rapidly growing even more so. Thanks in part to booming immigrant and refugee populations, it is projected to become majority-minority by 2025. And like its neighbors, Georgia has more than its share of challenges, including political representation that is not truly representative and persistent poverty, which is most acute in rural...

    Georgia STAND-UP