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Dear Piece by Piece Partners:
Happy New Year! We are excited to welcome 2011 and the next phase of Piece by Piece: A Regional Foreclosure Initiative. Thanks to your support and engagement, the November 30 kick-off event was a tremendous success. More than 300 people were at the Carter Center to learn about the severity of the foreclosure crisis in Metro Atlanta, hear about best practices on a national and local level; and engage with panelists, experts and other partners. To date, 130 organizations are signed on as Partners in the Initiative. Partners have pledged to take the issue of foreclosure seriously; engage in thoughtful dialogue about solutions; and make public commitments that outline the work they are currently doing and/or plan to do to address the foreclosure crisis.
Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros delivered an inspiring keynote address that commended Metro Atlanta for being the "first in the country" to tackle foreclosures with a coordinated, region-wide approach. He warned us that the problem is complex and the solutions are difficult, but he highlighted the Region's unique opportunity to be a national model for combating the crisis. The event received prominent coverage in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and on local network broadcasts.
So, now the real work begins. Initiative partners are asked to spend time thinking seriously about their respective public commitments and reaching out to other regional partners to talk through ideas or potential collaborative efforts. In the next few weeks, you will receive an email with the Piece by Piece public commitment form along with a few example forms to help inform your thinking and planning. The form will include sections for you to complete briefly describing your organization with address and contact information and outlining the nature of your public commitment.
We are asking that the public commitment forms be completed and submitted no later than April 8, 2011. As we shared at the launch event, public commitments will be collected and published in a report format available in hard copy and at www.atlantaregionalhousing.org/pbp.
Some Sector groups --- led by various industry partners --- are currently scheduling discussion sessions to help individual Initiative Partners receive feedback on and solidify their respective public commitments to address the crisis. For example, the Research sector met on December 6 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta with future plans to prepare a resource guide to all regional data resources and research related to foreclosure. Please check the website at www.atlantaregionalhousing.org/pbp for more information or contact me if you are interested in participating in specific sector discussion sessions. | 
