Anti-poverty advocates have been on a roller coaster ride over the last 20 years with rising and falling poverty rates. A substantial dip in poverty in the 1990s created a sense of excitement and an explosion of new ideas for maintaining the momentum. 

 

One idea involved studying the relationship between neighborhood effects and unemployment , school dropouts , crime  and teen pregnancy . According to Harvard Sociologist Robert J. Sampson, structurally disorganized neighborhoods with a high level of poverty, distrust and instability undermine a community's ability to realize its common values, resulting in cultural disorganization. As a result, communities and neighborhoods can become poverty traps where the vicious cycle of poverty continues for generations and impacts child development, adolescent achievement, delinquency, and parenting practices.  Read More 

With the formal announcement of the closing of Chateau Hotel at the Housing Court hearing on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 by attorney Mitchell Asher representing the unknown new owners of Chateau Hotel, 3838 N. Broadway Avenue, the residents of Chateau are certain that they will have to leave soon. Read More

The Center for Neighborhood Enterprise was founded in 1981 to help the residents of low-income neighborhoods address the problems of their communities. CNE provides effective community and faith-based organizations with training and technical assistance, links them to sources of support, and evaluates their experiences for public policy.The Center has provided training to more than 2,600 leaders of community organizations in 39 states. Funds contributed to CNE's programs have been used to leverage many times their amount for the Center's grassroots affiliate organizations. Societal problems addressed by CNE's grassroots network include youth violence, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, homelessness, joblessness, family dissolution, poor education, and deteriorating neighborhoods. Read more