How Chinatown's Community Bank Has Survived Crisis After Crisis

Postal banking used to be the norm in the United States, just as it is throughout Europe, helping poor and immigrant families save money, transfer funds, and even get small loans. The model is ripe for a comeback. Today, check cashers and payday lenders slap big fees on services that could easily be provided - without a profit-seeking motive - through the postal system infrastructure.

Black banks have been held up by leaders and celebrities in the community as a way to end Black poverty. Previous efforts have been made in the 1960s when Black banks gave loans to community members after being denied home loans from white banks. But those loans lost money when housing values declined as a result of redlining policies that damaged public schools. Black banking therefore was not the answer to ending Black poverty and bridging the gap between white and black wealth. One law professor believes the answer lies in public banking which is funded by tax revenue and acts as a public utility.

In a March Madness bracket style competition between Sweden, the United States, Australia, and Britain, experts choose Australia as the country with the most effective student loan repayment system. Judges cite automatic collection of income-based payments as Australia's best feature and discuss what the U.S. can learn by "acknowledging that possible ideas for improvement don't stop at the border."

Many people who own a trailer home live in a corporate-owned community where the rent goes unregulated but it is too expensive to relocate the trailer. In New Hampshire many manufactured home communities are owned by resident co-ops.

The Tangled Title Fund is helping qualified homeowners overcome logistical barriers that prevent them from being the clear owners of their home. Legal issues that result from unclear deeds can sabotage the benefits associated with home ownership, such as economic mobility. The initiative prevents the racial wealth gap from growing even wider by keeping generational wealth in Black families and communities.

A building cooperative is changing local zoning laws and building small houses known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the suburbs of Chicago. The efforts support economic equity by increasing the supply of housing in a community where housing and rental prices have been on the rise. ADUs also produce smaller carbon footprints, making them a sustainable housing option.

The “one cow per poor family” initiative in Rwanda seeks to increase household income and fight malnutrition by giving families a cow to raise. Once the cow gives birth, the calf is given to another family to raise, keeping the process going. Since the program started in 2006, a total of 341,065 cows have been distributed and residents say it has improved their livelihoods.

Students of the Better Buildings, Better Blocks class are getting a lesson in real estate development. Not only do participants have the chance to build a business, they will also be doing it in their own neighborhoods and therefore investing in their own community. The course was hatched as an idea to work toward bridging the racial wealth gap and allowing Black community members in Detroit to access real estate development projects.

When two hospital systems merged to create Ballad Health, agreements ensured all hospitals would stay open for at least five years and essential services in each of the rural and poorly served counties would be maintained. Enforceable price controls lowered patient costs and, in an effort to rebuild community trust and improve overall health, $308 million was committed to community-based care. The community health programs are based on the missions of organizations like Health Wagon, which serves its rural patients by forming personal relationships, being easily accessible, and understanding their needs.

The Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy uses limited funding to provide lawyers to renters facing eviction. Preventing homelessness is more cost effective than providing services for people experiencing homelessness, and avoiding eviction prevents long-term credit problems. The attorneys provide a level of security to renters by helping them navigate the complex legal system and connecting them to other public services. Some are advocating for a "right to counsel" law, like one recently adopted in Louisville and paid for with federal pandemic funds, which guarantees free lawyers to people facing eviction.