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The Massachusetts Association of
Community Development Corporations
March 2011
E-NEWSLETTER |
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Governor Patrick to join MACDC Lobby Day's on Thursday, March 31st | |
G overnor Deval Patrick will speak at MACDC's annual Lobby Day at the Great Hall in the State House in Boston on Thursday, March 31st from 9:30am to 2:00pm. This is our biggest event of the year and will be an opportunity for members and allies to visit the Legislature in support of our signature bill The Community Development Partnership Act (SD831/H.988). Members and allies can register online.
For our members, MACDC's Lobby Day is a time to discuss local issues with your legislators, display your work and learn from others under the glass roof in the Great Hall and hear from leaders in the Community Development movement. For our friends and allies, this is a chance to support CDCs and especially The Community Development Partnership Act.
The bill will support community led economic development initiatives through a strategic market-based approach that is sustainable because it depends on private contributions and builds strong local partnerships. Led by our sponsors, Chairwoman Linda Dorcena Forry and Senator Sal DiDominico, we have an additional 46 legislators (11 Senators and 35 Representatives) co-sponsoring our bill.
As of March 2nd, the House version of the bill has a number (H.988) and has been assigned to the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business. We are awaiting information on the Senate version and beginning plans for the public hearing later this year. For more information about The Community Development Partnership Act, please read the bill summary. For information about MACDC's other Policy Priorities, visit our website or contact Allison Staton. |
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Federal Budget - Mid Year Cuts will Devastate Communities | | This week the US Senate votes on the Draconian cuts of $60 billion proposed by the House of Representatives for the current federal fiscal year (which began October 1, 2010 and ends September 30, 2011). Funding for the federal government will expire next week unless Congress reaches agreement on the FY 2011 budget.
The House of Representatives propose to make the following cuts:
· CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) - cut from current funding of $4.4 billion to $1.5 billion (a 66% reduction)
· CSBG (Community Services Block Grants) - cut from current level of $700 million to $395 million (a 44% reduction)
· CDFI Fund - cut from current level of $246.75 million to $49 million (an 80% reduction)
· The Community Services Discretionary programs (JOLI and CED) within HHS are completely eliminated.
· Job training under the Department of Labor is almost totally eliminated - Eight (8) programs (e.g. Youth Activities, Green Jobs Initiative, Reintegration of Ex-offenders) are completely wiped out by the proposed cuts.
· Corporation for National Service - AmeriCorps itself sustains a $72.5 million cut and four other programs are eliminated.
MACDC recognizes that serious choices have to be made to deal with the federal budget shortfall. However, eliminating programs midway through the fiscal year is not a thoughtful or strategic way of dealing with the situation. Also, the cuts are coming entirely from so-called discretionary programs which comprise just 12% of the total federal budget. The cuts proposed by the US House of Representatives will do little to address the deficit, but they will do much to harm our communities and citizens. They also set the stage for deeper cuts in FY 2012.
Please call Senator John Kerry (202-224-2742) and Senator Scott Brown (202-224-45430) and ask them to stop these onerous cuts. |
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MACDC Members Get Larger Share of Housing Funds Despite Long Pipeline | |
On February 16, the Patrick-Murray Administration announced funding awards for 31 rental projects statewide. Of the 1,642 units awarded funding in these projects, 1,415 (86%) will be affordable to low-and moderate-income individuals and families. For CDCs, it was a "Good News/ Bad News" result.
The good news is that ten (10) great projects sponsored by MACDC Members were awarded funds, including two projects each sponsored by Chelsea Neighborhood Developers and Caritas Communities.
More good news is that MACDC Members are getting an increasingly higher proportion of funding awards. In this round, 31% of the affordable units (444 units) awarded funds were sponsored by MACDC Members - up from 25% of the affordable units in the last DHCD Funding Round and 17% of the affordable units in the round before that. Of these 444 affordable units, 56 units were reserved for households with extremely low incomes (less than 30% of area median income).
The bad news is that, because of the long pipeline of projects, 61 projects, including 20 sponsored by MACDC Members, were not awarded funding and must await funding from future rental rounds.
For more information about MACDC's members affordable housing work, contact Don Bianchi.
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MACDC Members Conserve Energy and Save Money | |
 On February 8, representatives from 14 CDCs participated in a lively discussion, hosted by MACDC, about various energy efficiency initiatives that CDCS are involved in across the state. The discussion highlighted the public and private funding that is available to improve energy efficiency.
The Renew Boston Program is focused on one to four family homes, for families with incomes too high to qualify for the low income program run by Action for Boston Community Development. The organizations, including six (6) CDCs are funded by the City to provide outreach for the program. Three CDCs in particular (Nuestra Comunidad, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation and Neighborhood of Affordable Housing) were selected by the City of Boston to lead grassroots marketing and neighborhood outreach for Renew Boston.
Several energy efficiency efforts are targeted toward multifamily buildings, which in the past have had limited access to resources for energy retrofits. The LEAN (Low Income Energy Assistance Network) Multifamily Program funnels weatherization funding from utility companies to apartment buildings owned by nonprofits or public housing authorities, where the majority of residents are low income. This access to private funding was facilitated by passage of the Massachusetts Green Communities Act, which placed additional requirements on the utility companies to fund weatherization. In 2010, $8.4 million in funds were made available for energy conservation measures in gas and electrically heated buildings, with at least $20 million to be available in 2011.
In addition to eligibility for LEAN Funding, nonprofit owners of multifamily buildings can get free benchmarking of their buildings' current energy usage through the WegoWise Program, administered by New Ecology, Inc. For information, nonprofit owners can contact Dan Teague. |
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Making Connections - Are We Correct? | |
MACDC's Joe Kriesberg says a new report by Enterprise is required reading. Check out our blog, Making Connections, and tell us if you agree.
And then he asks if we can copy other states' successes? Could we replicate what is being done in New Jersey and South Carolina? Do we want to? Let us know at Making Connections. |
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Mel King Institute for Community Building - Board Training | |
Corporate Governance for CDCs and their Board Members
March 15, 2011; 9:00am - 11:30am
Boston Private Bank & Trust Company
10 Post Office Square, Boston, MA
This 2-hour, interactive seminar will be led by a tax-exempt organization specialist. The agenda will include the role of your board, director duties, board composition, board procedures, policies, as well as other compliance issues and director liabilities for nonprofit organizations.
Co-Sponsored with Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, The Lawyers Clearinghouse, and Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster
Additional Information and Registration |
| The Alliance - Advancing Community Development by Confronting Racism | |
SAVE THE DATE!! Stand Against Racism - APRIL 29, 2011
DVD Viewing of Race: The Power of an Illusion
|  Join us for viewing and discussion of
Race: The Power of an Illusion.
Boston Private Bank, One Post Office Square, Boston 9:30-11:30am To RSVP, please email Alliance@macdc.org |
| MACDC's Calendar - promote your event | |
MACDC provides a calendar on our website for members and supporting organizations to publicize their events including Annual Meetings, Ribbon Cuttings and fundraisers. MACDC members, please tell us about your events by sending an email to Rosa at rosan@macdc.org. |
MACDC's Job Postings - promote your organization's opportunities
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MACDC provides job postings on our website for members and supporting organizations to publicize employment opportunities. This month's highlighted position is:
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Are you on Facebook? Become a Fan of MACDC
| Become a fan of MACDC on Facebook. We post updates, member news, videos and photos. Become a Fan today.
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