Stories

Rural

  • A Stronger North State: Pursuing a Vision of an Equitable North Carolina

    North Carolina has a surging statewide policy and civic engagement infrastructure fighting for fair legislative maps, voting rights, policies that advance economic opportunity, and public investment in programs that benefit families of all wealth levels. Blueprint NC is the “state table” that knits together nearly 50 organizations to align strategy and share resources. These member groups are...

  • Community Economic Development in South Carolina: Our History, Our Progress, Our Future

    In 1994, the South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations was established by four local community development corporations to advance the interests of their industry. But the state’s community economic development industry truly got its start when residents rallied to help each other rebuild after devastation. The organization has since renamed itself South Carolina...

    Bernie Mazyck
  • Community Economic Development is Social Justice at Work

    All too often, economic development excludes community members from the decisions affecting where they live, strains local resources and siphons financial returns to outside developers with no accountability to the community. There is a better way, one that provides communities with the infrastructure and support they need to access capital, address their needs, grow thriving businesses, build...

  • Creating new opportunity for communities with innovative lending

    This article originally appeared as a blog post by Virginia Community Capital.

    In 2016, Fahe, a regional Network, financial intermediary, and CDFI, received $50 million in loan awards from the USDA Community Facilities Relending Program to pursue its mission: ending persistent poverty in Appalachia. Among its numerous initiatives, Fahe sought to build several...

    Fahe
  • MRBF Joins Supreme Court Amicus Brief about Census

    A fair, thorough and accurate census count is vital to nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. The Constitution requires the federal government to count every member of the population every ten years to apportion critical resources, draw district lines and determine congressional seats. The...