Around Indiana
Comprehensive Community Development Work Under Way in South Bend The Near Northwest Neighborhood (NNN) in South Bend has engaged IACED to help facilitate a comprehensive community development process in the neighborhood. The arrangement builds on the prior work that NNN and IACED have done together and work that NNN has been doing to engage residents over the past several years. NNN has committed much of the time of the organization's Executive Director, Karen Ainsley, as community organizer through the process. Karen has been involved in the neighborhood for many years and has strong relationships that will help move the Quality of Life Planning process forward while developing local capacity for resident leadership. IACED is excited to engage in this work with NNN and is happy to add South Bend to the list of Indiana communities that have engaged in a comprehensive community development process. To read more about this project, click here for the entry on our blog.
Federal Reserve Chairman Discusses Economic Outlook During Address in Indiana On Monday, October 1, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke discussed unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP) growth and quantitative easing in his speech to the Economic Club of Indiana. Bernanke highlighted persistently high unemployment and sluggish GDP as significant concerns even as he acknowledged signs of economic recovery. Bernanke also touched on the Fed's promise to maintain low interest rates even if the economy makes a strong rebound in order to add stability to the markets. In his remarks, Bernanke went on to defend the Fed's use of non-traditional tools to spur recovery and steady financial markets. These actions have instigated calls from lawmakers to pass legislation to mandate an audit of the Fed that they could review. Bernanke maintained that an independent, outside accounting firm already audits the Fed's financial statements and the Government Accountability Office oversees the Fed's operations. To read more, please read this article from the Indiana Business Journal. 2012 Indiana Rural Summit The 2012 Indiana Rural Summit is November 14 and 15. The Summit brings together innovative speakers, new research and inventive programs to present public leaders with fresh ideas for Advancing Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Communities, the theme of this year's Summit. Get more details on the IACED blog. Community Connections - 2012 Conference for People with Disabilities and Advocates Join advocates at the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities' 18th annual conference! This year's conference, themed "Community Connections" will take place on December 4-5 2012 at the Westin Hotel in Downtown Indianapolis. The 2012 conference focuses on creating sustainable communities where all people are welcomed and valued as contributing citizens. Conference details are available here. Making Sure Homeless Hoosiers Have a Voice on Election Day With Election Day less than a week away, housing advocates nationwide are expressing concern about the impact of stricter voter identification requirements on the homeless. For those families and individuals experiencing homelessness, possessing or obtaining the kinds of identification, such as a birth certificate or a Social Security card, necessary to obtain a government-issued photo identification card can be a significant barrier to voting. In many cases, homeless voters cannot afford to buy a copy of their birth certificate or pay for transportation to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to get an ID card or go to the polls. Further, many homeless voters do not know they have the right to vote without having a permanent address. IACED members, who work with homeless clients directly affected by federal, state and local legislation and policies about housing, healthcare, transportation, and employment, can play a role in helping empower homeless voters. We have prepared some information clarifying current regulations and some tools for our member agencies to engage in homeless voter outreach in the future that can be found in this blog post. Across the Nation Report Examines Combined Costs of Housing and Transportation for Moderate-Income Households In October 2012, the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology published a report entitled Losing Ground: The Struggle of Moderate-Income Households to Afford the Rising Costs of Housing and Transportation. The study found that between 2000 and 2010, the combined costs of housing and transportation grew by 44 percent, approximately 1.75 times the growth of household income during this timeframe. Read more on the Enterprise Community Partners web site. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Announces New Rules Regarding Debt Collection, Credit Reports Debt Collectors On October 24, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a final rule granting the agency federal supervision of large consumer debt collectors for the first time starting January 2, 2013. This marks a significant increase in the agency's oversight power. Consumers will now have the help of the federal government in fighting illegal debt collection practices. Under the new rules, the CFPB will oversee any company with more than $10 million in annual receipts from collections. According to the CFPB, at least 30 million Americans are currently in debt collection, with an average outstanding bill of around $1,500. Credit Report Complaints On October 22, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that they will accept complaints about credit reports. In the announcement, the CFPB noted that these reports affect all aspects of individuals' financial lives, including whether or not you are able to get a credit card, a home loan, an auto loan, or a student loan, the ability to rent an apartment or get hired, and even tasks as simple as getting a cell phone or electricity for your home. It also can affect how affordable or expensive those things are for you, which is a key issue for many of the clients IACED members serve. To read more on these announcements, check out our blog post by clicking here. | 
