IDEAS THAT WORK
Poverty remains at record levels at a time when our nation can least afford it. Our experts—policy makers, practitioners, and academics—offer dozens of innovative ideas to create new opportunities for struggling families and communities.

Read Investing in What Works for America's Communities >
FOREWORD
“Community development today is a multidisciplinary exercise that challenges us to think holistically about how housing relates to jobs, educational opportunities, transportation, healthcare, and other services and amenities.”

– Federal Reserve Board Governor Elizabeth A. Duke
PAST & PRESENT
"Now, in the twenty-first century, the vision of broadly collaborative approaches seems more feasible than at any time in the long and rich history of community development."

– Alexander von Hoffman
OPEN FORUM: POLICY
“It is not enough to focus only on economic circumstances of individual families; we must also be clear-eyed about the opportunities and stressors that surround them where they live.”

– HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
OPEN FORUM: THE FIELD
"The first principle of community development is that the people are not the problem, people are the asset."

– Angela Blanchard
OPEN FORUM: ACADEMIA
"Quality early childhood development can close the income gap, reduce health disparities, and save taxpayers a bundle in lower health and social costs. It saves lives, and it saves money."

- Gabriella Conti & James J. Heckman
MAPPING THE FUTURE
"The essays in this book look at community development from many perspectives, but several themes emerge with some regularity. Perhaps the most profound is the recognition that community development is about the entire life of the community."

-Ellen Seidman

What’s New

Twitter feed loading

Request a Copy of the Book

For children to be able to learn, for families to be healthy, and for the elderly to be safe, a supply of stable, affordable housing must be available.

— Sister Lillian Murphy & Janet Falk, Mercy Housing, Getting to Scale: The Need for a New Model in Housing and Community Development

Through its holistic approach, this volume provides the latest analysis by foremost community development experts: practitioners, researchers, and policy makers on emerging programs that are successful in building stronger communities in the United States.

— Susan Wachter, Professor of Real Estate and Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

A must-read for those contemplating how to integrate people, place, capital, and public, private, and non-profit institutions to achieve community development and personal growth.

— Raphael Bostic, Bedrosian Chair in Governance, USC Price School of Public Policy, former HUD Assistant Secretary, Policy Development and Research

The community development field is strong and well positioned to build on knowledge of what works and to prove the social, economic, and financial value of integrated programs.

— Eric Belsky, Harvard University & Jennifer Fauth, City of New York, Crossing Over to an Improved Era of Community Development

Essays on People, Place & Purpose

What’s New

Wanted: Suburban Quarterbacks

Pay for Success: Innovating our Way out of Poverty

Investing in What Works for the Pioneer Valley

Follow Us