Indepth analysis of persistant problems in the field of community development. Woodstock's research reports contribute to the body of knowledge used by policymakers and community development practitioners.
Examines home lending patterns in the Benton Harbor-St. Joseph area. Identifies possible lending disparities and community credit needs. Highlights ways to improve access to affordable mortgage credit for low-and moderate-income community residents, particularly those in Benton Harbor. Includes recommendations for local planning and action.
This report documents the asset development programs of five community development credit unions and illustrates the several diverse strategies to empower lower-income people to develop modest assets. Case studies include Central Appalachian Peoples FCU, Quitman County FCU, Northeast Community FCU, Progressive Neighborhood FCU, and Zion United Credit Union.
This report analyzes home refinance lending in the Chicago area and documents the extreme segmentation of mortgage markets by race and neighborhood. In the last few years, mortgage lending abuses - often called predatory lending - have become an increasingly critical issue for those working to promote community reinvestment and development.
This alert describes how the Financial Services Task Force of the
Chicago CRA Coalition, in partnership with Chicago area banks, is
expanding opportunities for lower-income consumers to establish deposit
accounts, improve their financial literacy, and develop assets.
This analysis concludes that current programs reach a small fraction of the population of lower income people. While the variety of training programs currently offered could be improved in a number of ways, the greater challenge is to figure out how to reach significantly more people with more substantive training.
