Institutional Precipitation

Institutions can enable citizen action if they can be a precipitant rather than a programmatic intervener. A precipitating action avoids defining for neighbors what should be done, how it should be done and who should do it. Instead, it acts to precipitate citizens performing these three actions.

Organizing the Unorganizables

The leader in the drug-use harm elimination movement, Ann Livingston talks about her work as a community organizer dedicated to working at the local, regional and national levels to improve the lives of people who use illegal drugs.

Life after FIX

Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) co-founder Ann Livingston talks about the successes and setbacks in establishing Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection site and the only one of its kind in North America.

Join us for an Open Streets Study Tour October 6th-8th!

The Open Streets Project is partnering with the non-profit organization New Brunswick Tomorrow to deliver an educational Open Streets Study Tour in New Brunswick, NJ from October 6th - October 8th. The Study Tour will feature classroom sessions, networking opportunities, a behind the scenes tour of New Brunswick’s industry leading Ciclovia.

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Open Streets Project Revamped

The Open Streets Project has undergone some changes over the last year. We bid a sad farewell to project co-founder, the Alliance for Biking & Walking, who are moving on to other things, and we happily welcomed a new partner, international Open Streets leader 8 80 Cities. We are excited for all the possibilities and energy this partnership will bring.

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Accounting for a Family’s Financial Future

A young mother in Chicago has solid footing on a career path and has taken control of her family’s financial future, thanks to a LISC-supported Financial Opportunity Center. LISC’s innovative Twin Accounts™ are part of the process, allowing her to save and build a credit score, all at the same time.

It’s Time to Help More Communities Prevent Crime

In a blog for CitiesSpeak, Jason Cooper, a director for LISC’s safety initiatives, describes the urgent work of helping residents, non-profits and police work together to prevent crime—which is exactly what LISC supports in 74 areas across the country through the Justice Department’s Community-Based Crime Reduction Program. As the national training and technical assistance partner for the program, LISC has an up-close view of how it succeeds in making communities safer, stronger and more cohesive.

A Study of Two Americas—and How to Bring Them Closer

A new study on race and economic mobility in the United States by economists Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren stresses the role that neighborhoods can play in closing the country’s yawning, race-based opportunity gap. In the blog that follows, David Greenberg, LISC’s new director of Research and Evaluation, unpacks the lessons of the study, and posits how the findings can help guide the work of LISC and its partners going forward.