NorCalUrban

As many of you know, we've been working in collaboration with the EARN group and one of the Menlo Park City Councilmen to implement an innovative approach toward saving local homeowners in foreclosure. This approach effectively de-leverages local homeowners through an innovative investment of city redevelopment funds coupled with mortgage write down by local banks. We believe this approach is exceedingly fair to both the city and the homeowner and could end up saving 10 to 13 homeowners. Additionally, we're hoping this will serve as a pilot program to other cities. Tomorrow night the city council will host a study session for the plan. If passed, the city will allocate $1 million to this project, to be paid back to city coffers over time. If all goes well it will go to a vote on October 6th. We have had positive feedback from the council and staff members to this point. There are a few ways you can help: 1) You can attend the council session tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 7:00 pm ...

Another homicide in EPA this weekend. Another young life cut short. This one was closer to home, since it was the son of one of the other tenants in our building. I'm tired of the violence. You can read the news report here. Pastor Bains knew this young man well. I found strength in the U2 song 'Drowning Man' this morning. I'll take it as words from God and a prayer for the family. Take my hand You know I'll be there If you can I'll cross the sky for your love For I have promised Oh, to be with you tonight And for the time that will come Take my hand You know I'll be there If you can I'll cross the sky for your love And I understand These winds and tides This change of times Won't drag you away Hold on, and hold on tightly Hold on, and don't let go Of my love The storms will pass...the storm will pass... It won't be long now...it won't be long now... His love will last His love will last...forever Take my hand You know I'll be there...

Thanks for the head's up, Rudy. The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Dambisa Moyo www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests What say you? Does the traditional models of relief and aid work? What is the alternative?

I'm reading a fascinating book that has some of the same themes that run through Bob Lupton's recent writing. It's called 'White Man's Burden" by William Easterly. (I get the feeling some of you have read this already.) You can find it here. The title of the book is somewhat unfortunate, it's meant to be sarcastic. There are some amazing points here, stuff NCUD and others at CCDA have been talking about for years. I encourage you to check it out - here's a couple of great excepts from the first chapter: "But I and many other like-minded people keep trying, not to abandon aid to the poor, but to make sure it reaches them. Rich countries have to address the second tragedy if they are going to make any progress on the first tragedy. Otherwise, the current wave of enthusiasm for addressing world poverty will repeat the cycle of its predecessors: idealism, high expectations, disappointing results, cynical backlash." "Let’s call the advocates...

Many have been following the fight betweeen the City and EPA's largest landlord, Pagemill Properties. Here is a recent news article about their financial woes. You can't mistreat the poor and get away with it. God's justice will prevail. The Daily News 09/01/2009, Page A01 EAST PALO ALTO Page Mill may lose 1 ,700 units n Properties spokesman says company didn’t make $50M payment to Wells Fargo BY JESSICA BERNSTEINWAX Daily News Staff Writer A Page Mill Properties spokesman said Monday that the ownership of more than 1,700 units in East Palo Alto is in question after the company failed to make a $50 million payment to Wells Fargo Bank last month. The company and its subsidiaries couldn’t make the onetime balloon payment on Aug. 4 because of financial problems due to the economy, spokesman Sam Singer said. “They have been successfully servicing the debt on the loans for the properties, but this balloon payment — they just didn’t have that amount on hand due to the declin...

Hee's some very insightful words from Bob Lupton calling for truth in advertising for a $2 billion 'missions' industry... Cheerios just got a black eye. For as long as I can remember, those little round “O”s have been a breakfast favorite of both children and adults. Kids have spelled words with them in their cereal bowls, moms have carried baggies of them in their purses for snacks, dads have shoveled down spoonfuls as they hurried out the door on the way to work. In recent years these nutritious, fiber-rich, toasted 100% whole grain oat delights have boasted an amazing ability to lower bad cholesterol. I believed them. Who wouldn’t believe in Cheerios? Then some whistle-blower or competitor cried foul and the Federal Trade Commission took a close look at these health claims. Cheerios may be nutritious but no longer can they claim to lower cholesterol. They got caught doing false advertising. Is it buyer beware or do we want government watchdogs checking the valid...

I'll be off the grid for the next couple of week on vacation, blogcation, twittercation, email-cation, work-phone-cation and facebook-cation. see you in August!

A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves., waiting for us to recognize it. God himself is here waiting our response to His presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to recon upon it's reality. From "The Pursuit of God" by A. W. Tozer Get the book here. It's one of my 'desert island' books...

See it here. Short Takes Six Questions For ... Rev. John Liotti Interview by Elizabeth Palmberg B io: Founder and CEO, Northern California Urban Development (www.norcaludc.org) Blog: norcalurban.blogspot.com 1. How would you describe Northern California Urban Development’s work? Our vision is broad—to relieve the causes and effects of systemic poverty. We strive to have an effect on “the street.” We’re honored to serve amazing communities: East Palo Alto and Redwood City. East Palo Alto specifically, while having an abundance of assets, has been overlooked by the success of our surrounding area, Silicon Valley. 2. What have you accomplished? In NCUD’s short four-year history, we’ve brought a credit union to East Palo Alto, which was desperately unbanked and being preyed upon by financial predators. We’ve also founded a youth program that focuses on financial literacy and life skills, which is currently serving more than 200 “urban” students weekly. We’re working on an approach toward t...

Here is a stark article in the New York Times abotu the current conditions for the poor. Here's the summary: The recession of the ’80s transformed the working class into the working poor, as manufacturing jobs fled to the third world, forcing American workers into the low-paying service and retail sector. The current recession is knocking the working poor down another notch — from low-wage employment and inadequate housing toward erratic employment and no housing at all. Comfortable people have long imagined that American poverty is far more luxurious than the third world variety, but the difference is rapidly narrowing. Maybe “the economy,” as depicted on CNBC, will revive again, restoring the kinds of jobs that sustained the working poor, however inadequately, before the recession. Chances are, though, that they still won’t pay enough to live on, at least not at any level of safety and dignity. In fact, hourly wage growth, which had been running at about 4 percent a year, has un...

Sam, Melissa and I went to see M. Ward last night. The newly renovate Fox Theatre in Oakland is truly amazing. It's a restored 1920's movie palace. It could now be my favorite venue for shows in the Bay.  M. was amazing. He's the real deal, for sure. An amazing guitarist, intriguing vocalist and brought along a stellar backing band. He'll be around for a long time - I'm sure. Here's video: 

Reflections from Jackson For the better part of the last year I’ve been working on the Emerging Leader’s Initiative for the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). This initiative is designed to recognize and empower the emerging leaders within CCDA. John Perkins, Wayne Gordon, Mary Nelson and many others originally founded CCDA in the 1980’s. These men and women were very tight-nit and have a strong bond of friendships. CCDA has now grown to be many thousands of people. As a board we’ve been concerned about the aging of the leadership of the Association and I was tasked to develop and lead this initiative. The initiative revolves around choosing 20 or so individuals, we call them cohorts, to journey together for a year. The cohorts are mostly leaders under 40 years old who are in primary leadership in a CCDA member organization. During the year there is a focus on relationships, on transfixing the ‘legacy’ of the founders and considering the future of CCDA. Last w...

See the entire article here. Menlo Park's City Council tonight will consider an innovative approach to preventing foreclosure for struggling homeowners - but one that comes with a big up-front price tag for the city. "To me, the most important thing is to keep people in their homes and not disrupt families, not take kids out of school," said Councilman Andy Cohen. "This is the only program on the horizon that does that." The Foreclosure Prevention Program targets owner-occupied homes with mortgages more than 90 days past due. Program administrators would approach the bank that holds the defaulting mortgage and ask it to sell the mortgage at the home's current fair market value - the same amount the bank would receive if the home went through foreclosure, but with fewer expenses and less time and trouble for the bank, said David Shapiro, CEO of the EARN Group, a Los Gatos company that develops real estate financing tools. A local community bank would then ref...

Sam's gonna be a star! No doubt! This is his rap group. Song: Glommy Day Priduced by Samuel J. Liotti Vocals: Samuel J. Liotti, Malik R., Sierra and Cody K.

Cross post from  Urban Onramps For thise who are attending the Mobilazation to End Poverty (M2EP) we're meeting Sunday night. Come on - all you west coasters will be hitting your stride at 8:00 pm! DC MEETUP THIS SUNDAY NIGHT: Here’s a Meet-Up in conjunction with the Mobilization to End Poverty (MEP). The MEP starts on Monday morning, and for those who are in town on Sunday night and would like to connect, the spot is Lauriol Plaza Restaurant in DC, 1835 18th Street NW (about three blocks from DuPont Circle). We’ll be there for dessert (or whatever else you choose) starting at 8 p.m. So far… it’s me, John Liotti from NorCal Urban CDC, and Glory Okeke from Harambee Prep. Open Invitation - All Are Welcome. Email me if you plan to attend (or send a tweet).

Evidence suggests that these types of (financial literacy) programs can be successful in helping the unbanked and underserved improve their financial skills and develop successful banking relationships. For example, a survey of participants in the FDIC's Money Smart program, showed that financial education training can positively change consumer behavior and improve knowledge about the basics of checking, saving, budgeting, and credit. Money Smart is a financial education curriculum launched in 2001 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that is in wide use today. The survey results indicate that participants, 6 to 12 months after taking the Money Smart training, were more likely to open deposit accounts, save money in a mainstream deposit product, use and adhere to a budget, and have increased confidence in their financial ability. In addition, more than half of the respondents reported that their level of savings increased, their debt decreased, and they were more likely to...

My friend Travis recenty returned from a trip to Africa. He joined in a tribal dance.

Last Sunday, the choirmaster was jumping out of his skin ... stormy then still, playful then tender, on the most upright of pianos and melodies. He sang his invocations in a beautiful oaken tenor with a freckle-faced boy at his side playing conga and tambourine as if it was a full drum kit. The parish sang to the rafters songs of praise to a God that apparently surrendered His voice to ours. I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search. The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking,...

Check out the new NCUD website.  See it here. Let us know your thoughts.

Editorial in the Almanac: "Quick Action Needed." See the article here. If you know one of the Menlo Park city council or government leaders, please reach out and indicate your support for NCUD and other's efforts.

My friend and CCDA "emerging leader" Andrew Marin of the  The Marin Foundation just had his first book published "Love is an Orientation". Andrew is elevating the important conversation between the evangelical and homosexual community. You can get his book here. You can also read his blog here or check out the recent Christianity Today review of the book. This is obviously an important for us living in the SF Bay with our active and large homosexual community. We've been feeling the backlash from the California Proposition 8 decision and the impact it has had on both communities. I'm proud of Andrew, thankful that he is elevating an important conversation.

As I mentioned in my post about about my 'blogcation' we've been working diligently on a shared equity or 'third sector' housing solution for our community. This has occupied much of my mental bandwidth, along with the important curriculum development project for our youth program, Future Profits. We're beginning to see some light. On April 24th the city of Menlo Park will vote on a proposal for funding for our housing project. If approved, we will have the funding to save around ten homes and families from foreclosure. This will happen through an investment of public funds as an equity partner and a write down of the current (underwater) mortgage by the lender to a level where, with the public funds, will place the homeowner in a fair mortgage with a payment they can afford. However, the homeowner will give up some of their future appreciation by which the city will be paid back it's funds. We're also looking at a similar project with private funding....

So I've finally jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. You can see my Twitter updates on the right of this page. One more way to keep up with my life...

This week our close friend passed away suddenly. Mark was my wife Melissa's pastor and served as a second father to her when her own dad passed. Mark and his wife Gloria introduced Melissa to Christ when she was a child and served as her pastor throughout her childhood and teenage years. Mark and my relationship started rocky. When I showed up in Delhi, CA courting Melissa I was a young 18 year old, brash, arrogant and opinionated. I still have some of that going on. Understandably and justifiably, Mark was skeptical and not too thrilled about Melissa and my relationship. We had a lapse in our communication for a number of years. After we left Mexico with YWAM in '94 we landed in the Central Valley broke and burned out with a newborn baby. We were struggling to get back on our feet. Mark and Gloria gave Melissa a job that she held for 6 years at La Morenita. Mark helped us with a car, with furniture, with a house, with groceries, on and on... He eventually gave me a job at the ...

To all of my deprived readers (if there are any left), Please forgive my absence. Frankly, blogging started to feel more like work than fun - so a break was in order. Going forward, I hope to be more focused with my posts. They may be less frequent but hopefully will have slightly more content. Over the past three months I've focused my attention on a few key issues. The first and main issue is formulating a response to the current housing crisis. We've been working on a Housing Market Stabilization Initiative (HMSI) which would work to intervene for families who are losing their homes. Secondly, NCUD's  youth program, now dubbed "Future Profits"is growing and needing more and more attention. Lastly, I've been working on an Emerging Leader Initiative (ELI) for CCDA . The ELI will be a one year cohort program designed to pass on the CCDA legacy from the founders including Dr. John Perkins. Overarching all of this is the economy - which is making all of us in th...

Just returned from a wonderful CCDA board meeting in Cincinnati. Just made it out before the snow and frigid cold. Boy, do I love the Bay Area! You HAVE to check this out. here is a wonderful article on Dr. John Perkins called Radical Faith: The Revolution of John Perkins that was in the Jackson Free Press. It's a wonderful read... especially in light of the upcoming inauguration of President Obama. I'd love to hear your comments.

I found this interesting record by The Fireman  yesterday named "Electric Arguments". This is essentially a disguised Paul McCartney record. As my regular readers will know I listen to a lot of music from diverse styles (from opera to speed metal). I'm not wowed by a record very often, this one did for me. To be honest, I've been less than impressed with Paul's solo work. There are bright spots like the records 'McCartney', 'Ram', 'Band on the Run'and 'Flowers in the Dirt' - but for the most part his solo career can't compare to wonderful and transparent Lennon records like 'Plastic Ono Band', 'Double Fantasy' and 'Mind Games'. However, this record really grabbed me, starting with the searing blues on the first song, "Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight" and the transcendent "Sing the Changes" with the repeating lyrics (is there a faith influence here???): "sing his praises as y...

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm back now after a few weeks off. I needed some down time. Meliisa and I intentionally spend lots of time together over the holidays. It's a season to reconnect and remember that we're friends. We had a great time, saw family, ate a ton, watched movies and worked on our house. This time around in home ownership I seem to be enjoying  the experience more. We owned (and still do) a house in Modesto when we lived there 9 years ago (yes, it's been 9 years since we moved to EPA!) - but working on the house seemed much more a drudgery. I guess I'm older and slightly more patient. We're looking forward to 2009 - and I'm certainly glad 2008 is over. However, in spite of the turmoil we personally and with NCUD had a prosperous and successful year. We bought a house, had a credit union grand opening and saw it grow and succeed, expanded and further developed our youth programs and watched Samuel continue to mature into a fine young man. Oh...