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Bank
of America Foundation Helps Expand TRF's Food
Access Program
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As
the first private sector supporter
of the
Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing
Initiativein 2004, Bank of America played a critical role in launching TRF's successful efforts to promote supermarket financing in underserved communities. To date, TRF has financed 93 healthy food access projects across the region for a total of over $100 million. The Bank of America Foundation is now supporting TRF with a grant to replicate FFFI efforts nationally. President Barack Obama has already endorsed a national Healthy Food Financing Initiative with a $345 million proposal in his 2011 Fiscal Year Budget; First Lady Michelle Obama includes food access as a cornerstone of her "Let's Move" campaign to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity. TRF's expertise in developing supermarket financing programs and identifying low food access areas has uniquely positioned TRF as a national leader in the efforts to expand fresh and affordable food choices for millions of Americans. With Bank of America's assistance, TRF plans to share its lessons with policymakers, investors and communities committed to providing food access in critically underserved areas. |
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Evaluating Philadelphia's
Foreclosure Diversion Program |
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Philadelphia's Residential Mortgage
Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program
was created in 2008 by the Court of
Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
and the First Judicial District of
Pennsylvania, in an attempt to save
homes and communities being
undermined by mortgage
foreclosures. The Diversion Program
is attempting to mitigate
foreclosure lawsuits by establishing
intervention procedures before a
property is subject to the auction
at Sherriff Sale.
Philadelphia city government is
providing significant support to the
Diversion Program through its
funding of outreach, counseling and
legal assistance to homeowners.
TRF is involved in
an ongoing evaluation of this
foreclosure diversion program. Despite
the increasing popularity of
foreclosure diversions around the
country, TRF's evaluation represents
one of the only
systematic data collections on the
efficacy and efficiency of these
programs. Recently, the National
Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
invited Ira Goldstein, TRF's Director of Policy
Solutions, to
share TRF's efforts thus far. NCLC hosted a
webinar on foreclosure
diversion which included a
presentation by Dr. Goldstein and
the Honorable Annette M. Rizzo,
Judge of the Philadelphia
program, and Geoffrey
Walsh of the NCLC. As part of
the
DOJ's Access to Justice Initiative,
TRF facilitated a
one-day seminar entitled
"Foreclosure Mediation Programs: A
Workshop to Discuss Emerging
Research and Evaluation Practices". TRF's
evaluation became the focus
of a discussion centered on the
equitability of the growing number
of diversion programs and will
result in a brief.
Click here
to sign up to receive one.
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PolicyMap
Offers 2010 Census Data, Detailed
Race Information
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PolicyMap now features data from the 2010 Census Survey. Population, race, ethnicity and residential vacancy are the indicators released recently by the Census Bureau, which Policy Map displays for free in interactive maps and tables. PolicyMap released estimates from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey in February, reflecting key indicators such as population, income and educational attainment. Census data, however, includes the actual counts collected by Census enumerators as mandated by the U.S. Constitution. With PolicyMap, users can see how a particular area may have changed since the 2000 Census. The Census now collects more detailed information on race than ever before, due to the growing diversity in the U.S. population. PolicyMap users can now not only view an area by race but also locate concentrations of biracial and multiracial populations. |
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Map
indicating percent change in the
number of people who were of 'two or
more races' between 2000 and 2010 |
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Increasing
Fresh Food Access in Newark, New
Jersey
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Wakefern
Food Corporation will soon have a
new 180,000 sq.ft. refrigerated
warehouse facility in Newark, NJ,
thanks to
support from TRF. The
Newark Farmers Market will feature
space dedicated to
warehousing operations with the
capacity to accept 23 million
packages of fresh produce for
distribution to supermarkets. Wakefern, better known by
its
banner names of ShopRite and PriceRite, will use the new facility
to support the development of 27-30
new grocery stores along the
northeast corridor. TRF
and Consortium Capital are providing
over $34 million in
New Markets Tax
Credit to finance the construction
of the $45 million facility. In
addition, TRF closed on a $2 million
predevelopment loan in December 2010
to cover costs associated with the
project, including demolition and
site preparation. The project will
generate 400 construction jobs and
approximately 240 fulltime jobs for
the surrounding community once the
warehouse is in operation. The
warehouse facility will be in a
severely distressed neighborhood
where household income is less than
50% of AMI, and 28.5% of the
population is considered
impoverished. Construction is underway, slated for
completion in March 2012. The
warehouse meets LEED standards and
includes 12,000 square feet of
dedicated office space, as well.
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Jeremy Nowak
Leaving TRF to Head William Penn
Foundation
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TRF's CEO Jeremy Nowak will be
stepping down this June to become
President of the William Penn
Foundation. TRF's Board of Directors
had named Don Hinkle-Brown, TRF's
President of Community Investments
and Capital Markets as Acting
President and CEO. Don, who has been with TRF for 20
years, will lead the organization's
longstanding senior management team,
all of whom will remain in place.
Read the
official announcement from
TRF's Board of Directors. |
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TRF in the News
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