December 2010

  • Losing Post Offices, Storefronts, and How We Respond

    In the spring 2010 issue of Shelterforce, Miriam Axel-Lute wrote about the challenges local post offices face amid technological and budgetary challenges and the subsequent effects on low-income communities, or communities where residence have limited access. In June 2009, the United States Postal Service began looking at a list of 3,300 branches — all potential candidates for elimination. By January 2010, that list had dwindled to an ominous 162. Axel-Lute quotes Denise Diaz of Central Florida Jobs With Justice, which protested against the potential closing of five post office stations in the Orlando area: “It was clear that these were predominately in low- to moderate-income communities, plus one on the outskirts of downtown in the Vietnamese community with a lot of small businesses. It would have been a huge loss, particularly for seniors, small businesses, and people who don’t have a car. Some people would have had to go over six miles. [For some], if you were to look up your nearest postal station — those three [of the ones on the study list] would have been your options. They were going to wipe out a whole series of communities.” According to the article, “The agency ended the first half of its fiscal year (October 1, 2009, to March 31, 2010) with a net loss of $1.9 billion, and its mail volume for 2010 is projected to be 10 billion pieces fewer than the previous year.” These statistics prove to be foreboding not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas, where these post offices often represent outposts; a means of connectivity in communities that are physically isolated. National Public Radio recently conducted a profile on a post office in the West Virginia mountain community of Hacker Valley, where the the post office, though not “officially closed,” has been out of service since summer 2009. more

  • Forcing Banks to Buy Back Loans

    On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee is slated to consider the administration’s nomination of Joseph A. Smith Jr., the commissioner of banks for North Carolina, to head to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s regulator.…

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    In Maryland, Holding Anti-ACORN Activists Accountable

    A group of activists are fighting back against the Glenn Becks, Andrew Breitbarts, and the rest of the Fox News propaganda machine who have worked tirelessly to spread lies about ACORN. Last week a new watchdog group, www.IndictBreitbart.org, launched a…

  • Urban Ag: We’re Planning On It

    In the upcoming issue of Shelterforce, we look at how urban agriculture brings not only food to communities, but also provides an opportunity to fill in vacant lots through programs like the Reimagining Cleveland project and the nationally-recognized Greensgrow Farm,…