Eviction Diversion Resource Center

On October 15th, colleagues from fellow RACF initiative RENEW (Rochester ENergy Efficiency and Weatherization), passed along a memo to members from the National Low Income Housing Coalition about Monroe County’s new resource center.

The memo - found here - references ACT Rochester data and explains the utility of this important public service. The Eviction Diversion Resource Center (EDRC) is located within the Hall of Justice and is associated with Housing Court. In fact, the EDRC appears to be a nexus point for many housing-related organizations in Monroe County.

Housing has been a hot button issue and the EDRC and the article provide critical information to inform community members in need, as well as the stories we are telling about housing in Monroe County. Consider this some significant Brain Food!

Guest Post: Child Poverty

Reminder: let’s be poverty abolitionists! Particularly for the sake of children.

To meaningfully address childhood poverty, we need to adopt a poverty abolitionist framework. This means rejecting short-term, individual-level interventions and focusing on dismantling the capitalist and racist systems that reproduce poverty. It’s not enough to offer after-school programs or meals; we need systemic change that includes reparative justice, universal basic income, and equitable school funding.

Educators, policymakers, and communities must collaborate to push for policies that dismantle poverty at its root. This includes advocating for increased funding for public schools, particularly those serving low-income and marginalized students, as well as broader social policies that address housing, healthcare, and employment inequities.

If you haven’t yet, consider reading Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond!

The poverty we see in Rochester—and in cities across the U.S.—is not inevitable. It is a policy choice, perpetuated by systems that prioritize profit over people. Childhood poverty is not a byproduct of individual failure, but of systemic neglect. If we are to create classrooms where every child can thrive, we must first dismantle the systems that ensure some children will never have that opportunity. The path forward is one of abolition, equity, and justice.

Dr. Tyana Velazquez-Smith is the Director of Early Childhood at Rochester Area Community Foundation. With a doctorate in Teaching and Curriculum from the University of Rochester, Dr. Velazquez-Smith is an adjunct instructor at U of R, teaching courses like Race, Class, Gender & Disability in American Schools. She is the Founder and CEO of Sensational Inclusion, dedicated to building equitable educational ecosystems. Dr. Velazquez-Smith is a native Rochesterian, passionate activist, educator, and dedicated researcher.

Connections LIVE from RMAPI

Happy October!

On September 19th, the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) hosted a summit and Evan Dawson broadcasted two hours of Connections live on site. The first hour was a discussion of local efforts to address poverty, and the second hour was a panel of Rochester’s leaders including RACF’s President & CEO Simeon Banister.

If you haven’t already, please tune in to both hours. Both discussions are quality nutrition for healthy thought.

What did you learn that you can bring into your next conversation about poverty in the city of Rochester?

Curated Article: Women and Labor Market Recovery

On July 26, Brookings published a research study on the role of “prime-age women” in labor market recovery. Prime-age is defined as women within the age of 25 and 54, and the idea is that women in this age range have increasingly participated in the labor force. Fair warning that the study is very data-heavy, with several charts and interactive graphics, but the overall point is that women are participating in the labor force at high rates.

The study also highlights that female participation in the labor force varies by racial/ethnic group, educational attainment, marital status, and disability status. The study also highlights variation in labor force participation for mothers of school-age children - there was an uptick immediately after the COVID lockdown, and that trend has leveled out. 

We know that COVID had a profound influence on labor force participation patterns, so it is important to pay attention to how patterns continue. Keep in mind that the article is about national trends, but still relevant to the conversations we are having in our community about the need for child care and potential impacts of employment policies on families. 

Consider these national trends when we think about employment opportunities in our region, target audiences for career pipelines, and our ongoing upward mobility efforts. 

Curated Report: The Children’s Agenda Rochester City Budget Highlights

Local advocacy organization The Children’s Agenda released a report highlighting the Rochester City’s Budget allocations, with a particular emphasis on how the budget affects children. 

The report calls out policy efforts in the areas of poverty, support for the public library system, youth development and mental health, and youth violence prevention. 

The report is very well-organized, providing readers a summary of budgeted items by category as well as commendations and recommendations. PLEASE READ!

Brookings blog on measuring economic need

As staff at RMAPI will be quick to remind us, the federal poverty line is a limited measure of poverty. The measure is far too low. I often think of the scene from The West Wing (click here for a refresher) about the federal poverty line formula. 

On June 20th, Brookings published a blog post about measuring economic need, arguing for a calculation of a basket of basic necessities to highlight budget shortfalls. From this vantage point, the Economic Policy Institute at Brookings assembled family budgets, a variety of charts and figures, and an explanation of economic realities for too many families in the US. 

This community talks about poverty a lot, let’s make sure we know what poverty actually means. 

A State-Level Look at the Social Safety Net

The US social safety net is a collection of programs meant to support families experiencing financial hardship. The provision of these programs varies widely by state, and Brookings has published an article and interactive data tool for us to review New York State. These are great references to consider, particularly as we think about the elections coming up in November and the overall well-being of our community. 

As you review these tools, also consider New York State tax credit policies, laid out and defined here. Consider looking up other states as well, so you can put New York in context.  

Curated Chapters: Chapter 3 and Chapter 9 in Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America

One of the charges for Poverty Abolitionists in Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America is his argument about the inequities of the US banking system. In Chapter 3, Desmond calls out banking. If you have not read the full book yet, I recommend flagging pages 71 to 79. Desmond’s argument is that the poor are trapped in a cycle of debt. From fee structures (think overdraft fees) to overt racial discrimination in banking practices to even banking hours kept, the system is not designed for the poor. Pile on the credit system and qualifying for loans and it’s an uphill battle, to say the very least. So, how can we work toward a more equitable banking system? 

Chapter 9 highlights zoning laws as key vehicles for exclusion and a key component of structural inequality. Desmond argues for a diversity of voices in the zoning conversations, where decisions about community development are made by a group that better reflects the community. If we can move toward more inclusive zoning policy, we would move toward setting a norm of inclusivity. 

The City of Rochester is updating its zoning code, see Rochester Zoning Alignment Project to learn more.

New Jersey is Taking Bold Action against Exclusionary Zoning

Local planning boards do not tend to be a hot topic or trendy conversation starter, but they may be a key location for actual social change. 

The state of New Jersey has heard the call and, in March 2024, enacted legislation to require affordable housing in communities that have historically been exclusive. According to the write-up by NextCity, the new law will make it harder for wealthy towns in New Jersey to block new developments, and it provides incentives for building near transit, redeveloping underutilized structures, and targeting the neediest families (by income, IDEA requirements, etc.) in addition to tax incentives. 

Testing a Guaranteed Basic Income

In Rochester, one in four people live in poverty. Imagine how our community might change if everyone had enough money to cover living expenses, as well as enough to manage urgent or unexpected ones.

That’s part of what the City of Rochester is exploring in its 12-month Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program, which began in 2023. The idea is to see how a guaranteed payment of $500 per month will help residents who live at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. Payments are unconditional — participants do not have work requirements or restrictions on how to spend money. 

Other cities across the country are exploring similar programs to find ways to address poverty.

Pilot programs like these are valuable because they allow us to test novel approaches on a small scale in the real world. The key is that these projects last only for a prescribed period of time. Fears of failure and loss of funding can bring the temptation to let them go on indefinitely without analysis, but it is essential to stop and evaluate the data.

Rochester’s Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot made its first payments in October 2023. As the program unfolds over the coming months, city officials and their community partners will be examining its impacts. We will all have to stay tuned!

Living Wage Calculator

A living wage is defined as the income that a full-time worker requires to cover or support the costs of their family’s basic needs where they live. It often exceeds the minimum wage, which is the lowest pay rate allowed by law, and the poverty wage, which is the minimum amount of pay that would put a worker below the poverty line.

The Living Wage Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a living wage calculator to factor in the cost of basic needs in different localities. The calculator features geographically-specific costs for food, childcare, health care, housing, transportation, other basic needs – like clothing, personal care items, and broadband, among others – and taxes at the county, metro, and state levels for 12 different family types. 

What is the living wage where you live?