Dear Partners,

Since we sent out the Piece by Piece public commitment form on February 9 (via email and hard copy), we have received a steady flow of responses including some completed commitment forms.  As promised, we wanted to share a few examples with you to inform your thinking as you prepare for the April 15 public commitment form submission deadline.  Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions regarding the forms or the commitment process.

Piece by Piece Examples: See how others are making a commitment to address the foreclosure crisis:  Center for Community Progress, D&E Group and the Urban League of Greater Atlanta. 

Focus on Research: In December, the Research sector convened at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to talk about existing foreclosure research tools and data needs for the future.  Under the leadership of Karen Leone de Nie and Jessica Dill, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta created a survey to identify the various data resources that are available to us in the Atlanta region as well as to identify data gaps that may exist.

Request for Action: If you or your organization is engaged in research, PLEASE access and complete the survey at http://frb.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5b88Cukqeeqk2wY.  Your feedback is critical to ensuring that we have a complete and accurate picture of the foreclosure data landscape.  If you have questions about the survey, please reach out to Jessica Dill at Jessica.Dill@atl.frb.org or at 404.498.8429.  Survey results will be included in future Piece by Piece communications.

Calendar Items:  As noted in our most recent email, Piece by Piece related sector meetings, events and activities will be posted on the calendar available at www.atlantaregionalhousing.org/calendar.  If you would like to add an activity or event to the calendar, please contact Susan Adams with date, time and description of event. 

CredAbility Consumer Distress Index:  Piece by Piece partner CredAbility, one of the leading nonprofit credit counseling and education agencies in the United States, recently released the CredAbility Consumer Distress Index results for the 2010 fourth quarter. The Index, a quarterly measure that tracks the financial condition of the average US household, found that rising stock prices helped propel growth in consumers' net worth. But lower scores in three of the index's other four categories -- employment, housing and household budget - drove down the overall index. The health of household budgets declined each quarter in 2010 and is at the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009. 

To see a detailed explanation of how the Index works and a national map, go to www.CredAbility.org/ConsumerDistressIndex. To see how Georgia fared in the index, see this AJC article.

We appreciate your continued engagement and support.  We look forward to receiving your commitment forms.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions. 

Susan Adams
Piece by Piece Coordinator