By Janet Byrd
Happy May! I hope you’re enjoying the longer days and the spring weather.
At Neighborhood Partnerships we believe that we need to actively advance equitable outcomes in order for Oregon to be the state we know it can be, offering a chance for everyone to reach their full potential. The Neighborhood Partnerships team has been thinking a lot about how we make inroads, through program and policy, into the disparities that are so pervasive in our communities. There are some big ideas in play, and big solutions.
Much of the focus at Neighborhood Partnerships these days is on the Legislature, which will be meeting in Salem for the next six to eight weeks. This is the time of session when the budget starts to become clearer and the big decisions get made. There are big solutions being advanced in Salem for housing availability and affordability, for student success, and more.
Individual Development Accounts are part of the big solution we need. Big, bold, scalable solutions are needed, as are tools, like IDAs, that work one by one to help people build their next step towards financial stability. Chrysteen Hutchins’ story in this newsletter is just one of thousands of stories about the impact and importance of IDAs.
We need your help to tell more of these stories like Chrysteen’s story. We need our Legislators to know how impactful IDAs are, and what potential they hold for people, for families, and for communities across Oregon. We need your help to be sure that the Legislature doesn’t go home before they take important action on the Oregon IDA Initiative. We’ll be hosting a Lobby Day on Wednesday May 22nd – and we’d love you to join us. See below for more information and to sign up!
And, we’ll keep working on the big ideas too! We’re looking ahead to RE: in October. And, in the meantime, we hope you will plan to join us in June for some opportunities to hear ideas, talk to one another, and explore our next goals. June 5th Cat Goughnour and Bob Friedman will speak at EcoTrust, and on June 27th we’ll be hosting an Asset Builder’s Unite event. See below for details and to register.