Imagine you’re looking though the apartment ads in the local paper. You find the perfect place. It’s near your kid’s school, fits within your tight budgetary restrictions and is available right now. In this rental market you know you’ll have to get there early to meet the landlord and compete with a half-dozen other people […]
Guest_Post
Despite how it feels, talking about poverty is getting easier
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll shows promising results for those conversations you might be having about poverty. “Now, nearly half of respondents, 47 percent, attribute poverty to factors other than individual initiative,” says the poll. Although opinions still fall along expect political divides we’ve come a long way since 1995. As Topos put in […]
The world’s leading marketing guru shares a valuable lesson on homelessness
I was reading a summary of Seth Godin‘s 2014 HOW conference interview and he shared an anecdote that stood out to me: If you read Patti Smith’s book about her and Robert [Mapplethorpe] called Just Kids … she was homeless for years — HOMELESS! — living on bread from the garbage can, sleeping in the […]
The secret words to fighting income inequality
We believe inequality is a barrier that can be broken if we work together and rally a public response. But that can only happen if we all have the tools to change the public conversation. That’s why we’re hosting our old friend Patrick Bresette from Public Works. During this special evening event on May […]
This is our “secret sauce”
Ever wonder what the common factor is among all of NP’s initiatives? I know I did when I first started working here. Well, it’s based on a really cool, research-backed model that helps people navigate life’s ups and downs on their journey toward financial stability. One part infographic, one part informational one pager and one part organizational […]
There’s no such thing as chance
The other day I was writing something about “weathering the storm” and Janet, our ED, reminded me: we don’t use weather metaphors. Why? Because weather is out of our control. But the policies we put in place, the words we use and the society we create are a byproduct of our actions and thoughts. And […]
Janet Byrd offers potential affordable housing solutions to the Portland Tribune
Today, Peter Korn from the Portland Tribune covered the story. He turned to NP Executive Director Janet Byrd looking for solutions to the affordable housing problem in the state: The desperate need for more low-income housing has led to the formation of a new work group including two state legislators, the Oregon Home Builders Association […]
Unexpected voices: The inside strategy that landed big victories for affordable housing in Oregon
Tweet It was late in the day on March 6th when all of a sudden text messages started to quickly pile up on the screen of Neighborhood Partnerships Executive Director Janet Byrd’s iPhone. She scanned the new messages and quickly printed out four pages of budget information. She ran her finger down the list of […]
Will Fannie and Freddie’s demise be the biggest thing to happen for affordable rental housing in 40 years?
Tweet Two days ago The National Low Income Housing Coalition released this promising news out of the Senate Banking Committee: Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) released the legislative text of their bipartisan housing finance reform proposal. The bill as drafted would provide the most significant new investment […]
This is why Neighborhood Partnerships is anti “Middle Class”
When I opened my email this weekend and saw a message about Rick Santorum from our Executive Director Janet Byrd I was ready to laugh, scoff or harrumph. What I wasn’t ready for was a genuinely useful lesson that may change how we communicate at Neighborhood Partnerships.