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What to Do When ICE Comes to Your Buildings

Wednesday, October 11, 2017
In This Issue: When Disaster Hits, Your First Responder May Not Be a First Responder ● Gentrification in New Orleans ● Policy Agenda for Manufactured Homes ● What to Do When ICE Comes to Your Buildings ● Also: Hurricane Funding and Recovery Resources ● Events ● Industry News You Said It! ● In Case You Missed It ● Jobs ● More
The Incident Command System was developed in the 1970s when an investigation of a series of urban fires in California showed that death and destruction were not the result of lack of response resources, but rather inadequate coordination and collaboration between them. Emergency response planners developed a single system that allows for efficient and effective coordination between first responding agencies. The system has also been widely adopted by recovery and relief agencies and organizations.

It all makes sense. Nothing brings order to chaos like a top down system.

But it turns out not all the chaos is bad. Neighbors running around without an incident commander is essential to rescue and recovery. Social scientists reviewed all the recent research on disaster recovery and tell us that before the coordinated ICS agencies arrive, before the Red Cross and all the other recovery groups descend with legions of volunteers, there are . . .
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Miriam Axel-Lute, Shelterforce
If you own and/or manage affordable housing, do you know what to do if ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) shows up on your doorstep looking for someone? If you haven’t thought it through yet, now’s the time. Punitive immigration “enforcement” has been stepped up throughout the past year, with raids often targeting longtime community members.

Rhetoric around the concept of Sanctuary Cities often makes it sound like there are only two routes when dealing with ICE—active cooperation, or civil disobedience ala the Underground Railroad (though the latter may well also be called for). But people well versed in civil rights say that . . .
Frank Adelmann was bereft when he received an eviction notice from Lowry Grove mobile home park. At 59, he had no resources to move and could not afford another home. The day before the park was to close, Frank ended his life. He was one of ninety-five families who lost their homes. Kids, parents, veterans, and even seniors, some in their eighties, were evicted. Parents struggled, and mostly failed, to find a home they could afford in the same St. Anthony’s school district. And dozens who thought Lowry Grove would be the last home they lived in, suddenly had nowhere to go.

In Minnesota, ten mobile home communities have closed in the past twenty-five years, and no new ones have opened. This uncertainty affects nearly 3 million Americans who are residents in the nation’s 50,000 manufactured housing communities. While most of these people own their homes, they rent the land, which leaves them vulnerable to dramatic rent increases, arbitrary rules, and even eviction.

No one should have to fall asleep wondering if they’ll have a home in the morning. Not in this country.
Cultural appropriation—the theft and hollowing out of culture, place, and people into commodities—cannot be separated from the historic abuse of various cultures and the labeling of their bearers as “primitive,” “inferior,” “dangerous,” and “illegal” in order to establish dominion over them. People whose cultures have been commodified are mad about cultural appropriation because it cannot be separated from the theft of their land, life, dignity, freedom, and rights. It cannot be separated from colonialism, from the murder with impunity of Black men and women by the police, or from the gentrification of their neighborhoods.

Indeed, our organization, Blights Out, would argue that gentrification and cultural appropriation are two sides of the same coin. 
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Resources
Hurricane Recovery Grants Enterprise Community Partners is making grants available through its Hurricane Community Recovery Fund to support nonprofit organizations engaged in recovery and relief services to low- and moderate-income homeowners and renters affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
How to Help Residents of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Recover After Hurricane MariaRaceForward/Colorlines continues to update their list of hurricane recovery resources — including organizations that are helping with immediate needs and long-term efforts on the ground in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican Community Land Trust Call for Support • We recently wrote about the Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust in Puerto Rico. They, like most of the island, are suffering the effects of the hurricanes, and they have just launched a GoFundMe campaign. To support their efforts, please click here.
Events
Oct. 12, 3:00 p.m. ET ● Connecting Communities®Advancing Financial Inclusion: Innovative Financial Products and Services for Low-Income Households Sponsored by the Federal Reserve System, this webinar brings together experts in the field to examine current research, initiatives, and best practices to help organizations address the challenges low-income households face in the financial marketplace.

Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. ET ● Are We Making A Difference? Online discussion from Build Healthy Places Network with four national metrics experts spanning community development, public health, and healthcare who will share their efforts developing innovative cross-sector tools to measure neighborhood-level health and well-being.
Industry News
Kevin Thompson Transportation for America
Kevin F. Thompson has been named director of Transportation for America, the signature transportation initiative of Smart Growth America. Thompson previously served as the director of communications & legislative affairs for the Federal Railroad Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation during the Obama administration. Earlier in his career, he spent time at the Chicago Transit Authority, directed the infrastructure sub-cabinet for former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, and worked as a planner for the City of Chicago.
You Said It!

Kudos to Shelterforce for its attempt to bury the phrase “workforce housing,” a phrase born and designed to be an obfuscation. . . . However, there is another type of workforce housing that we should also continue to be for—employer-assisted housing, an idea that Shelterforce at one time did much to promote. Employer-assisted housing can address a variety of . . . —Dan Hoffman, more


Gentrification per se isn’t always a negative, it can (and should) become a positive development if . . . —Fernando Centeno, more

If it is truly the goal of community workers to inform residents of processes and let the residents make decisions, as discussed in other Shelterforce articles, then an accurate description of housing cooperatives will find residents choosing proprietary housing cooperatives with income caps for membership over short-lived affordable rentals . . . —Herbert H. Fisher, more


I’m the former CEO and COO of NHSNYC, a NeighborWorks America member organization. I am a black woman and have worked in community development in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. At NHSNYC and now at IMPACCT Brooklyn I have succeeded a white female executive. The main concern I heard from some upon my employ is whether or not the organization will be viewed as a “black” organization and can I assure that the organization will not lose funding. I actually appreciated the candor to recognize the reality of the field in which I work . . . —B. Grier, more

This is the fight you choose? Why don’t we all work together to focus on results? When there is no more housing shortage, no more children growing up in poverty and without hope, then maybe this would deserve to be the priority. And even then, I would look at the motivation of the “outsider” leaders and see if they really deserve to be judged. —Cheryl Fox

In reply to Cheryl Fox:
This is a field-wide issue about representation and self-determination, not a critique of any individual leaders, most of whom are wonderful and dedicated to their work. —Miriam Axel-Lute
In Case You Missed It
Jobs
Associate Director
The person in this position has major duties including development of permanently affordable housing projects, working to compete for necessary grants, working with staff and board of directors to strengthen our community-based organization, leading stewardship of preserving inventory of . . . Read Full Listing
Project Manager, Homebuilding and Stabilization
The person in this role is responsible for leading all single-family real estate development activities for Develop Detroit. This position requires a breadth and depth of real estate experience and a genuine commitment to the mission of building and preserving quality housing and . . . Read Full Listing
Executive Director
The ideal candidate for this position will be passionate about NeighborWorks’ mission of developing affordable housing and helping improve the livability of Great Falls neighborhoods. The ED will be responsible for the overall management, strategic direction, fundraising, accountability . . . Read Full Listing
Senior Policy & Research Associate
The person in this role will serve as an integral part of the CNYCN Policy and Research Team, which works to further affordable homeownership in NY by advocating for city, state, and federal policy reform, identifying trends, researching needs, and developing solutions. Section 3 residents are . . . Read Full Listing
Chief Operating Officer
The Center for NYC Neighborhoods seeks a Chief Operating Officer to lead the design, implementation, and operations across our diverse set of programs, including our lending affiliate, a certified CDFI. The Center strongly encourages Section 3 residents to participate in this hiring effort . . . Read Full Listing
Project Manager (Affordable Housing)
Under the supervision of the Associate Director of Housing Development, the Project Manager performs a wide variety of tasks related to planning and developing affordable housing for Tenderloin NDC. The PM coordinates and implements all activities relating to project development from . . . Read Full Listing
Vice President of Community & Economic Development
HOPE is seeking two mission-driven individuals to lead its CED work in two locations: Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. In partnership with communities in the region and HOPE’s credit union and commercial lending teams, the VP for Community & Economic Development will . . . Read Full Listing
Program Officer, Strong Local Economies
Surdna's Strong Local Economies program aims to create robust and sustainable economies that include a diversity of vibrant businesses and sectors and improved access to quality jobs for the Program’s priority populations. The PO will work closely with the team on day-to-day . . . Read Full Listing
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Featured Bloggers
Bob Annibale, Citi ● Laura Barrett, Interfaith Worker Justice ● Murtaza Baxamusa, Sol Price School of Public Policy, USC ● Michael Bodaken, National Housing Trust ● Bill Bynum, HOPE Credit Union ● Steve DubbJamaal Green, Portland State University ● John Henneberger, Texas Low Income Housing Information Service ● David Holtzman, newspaper reporter and former planner ● Josh Ishimatsu, National CAPACD ● Rick Jacobus, Street Level Advisors ● Daniel Kravetz, freelance writer ● Alan Mallach, Center for Community Progress ● Jonathan Reckford, Habitat for Humanity ● Doug Ryan, Prosperity Now ● Josh Silver, NCRC ● James Tracy, San Francisco Community Land Trust ● Eva Wingren, Baltimore Community Foundation