Dear Friends,

I hope this letter finds you safe and healthy.

I want to acknowledge that as you read this update, communities across our country are still hurting from the pandemic. This is compounded by the weight of the collective trauma we continue to experience as a result of ongoing institutional injustices and relentless violence against Black and Brown people at the hands of police.

However, I remain cautiously hopeful that the national racial reckoning our nation now faces will succeed in ushering in greater fairness and change. Our communities deserve the chance to focus on more than daily survival, and as an organization, Prosperity Now remains steady in its commitment to support the movement for full racial and economic equity.

The American Rescue Plan
While the economy is steadily improving, and a growing number of employees are heading back to work, many low- and moderate-income (LMI) and BIPOC people face a long road to economic recovery. Throughout the last year, the suffering of vulnerable communities multiplied and further relegated them to the margins. Thankfully, with the recent passage of the American Rescue Plan, these communities now have the chance to rebuild and thrive. I applaud the enactment of this legislation and the broad scope of its reach. After months of mobilizing and advocating for the passage of the bill, I was heartened to see it come to fruition. This legislation is a critical step in rebuilding an economy that works for everyone.

Confronting Dominant Identities
At the beginning of the month, I published an article in Nonprofit Quarterly about how confronting the different parts of my identity informs my approach to leadership. In the piece, I share important lessons I’ve learned and give a call to action to other leaders to ensure true equity and inclusion in the workplace. I invite you to read it and perhaps we can start a conversation about leadership together. The sharing of our stories helps to build trust, community, and healing.

Prosperity Now is Hiring!
Finally, I wanted to share with you that Prosperity Now has several open positions in our Applied Research, Communications, Development and Policy departments. Please visit our Careers page to learn more. We encourage you to share widely and apply if you’re a good fit for any of the roles listed!

Savings and Banking Insights from Prosperity Now

This Financial Capability Month, we continue our commitment to identifying solutions that help lift LMI communities out of poverty. With generous funding from the Prudential Foundation, we have launched a new blog series. The series focuses on non-profit practitioners’ efforts to deliver savings programs during the pandemic, principles for forming meaningful bank partnerships and banking concepts (like credit unions and public banks) that can transform the banking system for LMI people. 

In our blog titled Reimagining Savings: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic, Laura Yepez shares learnings from the Savings Network webinar series where practitioners explored the evolution of savings during the pandemic. 

In our blog titled Principles for a Meaningful Bank Partnership, Santiago Sueiro shares principles to support impactful bank partnerships, from the importance of a client-centered philosophy to ensuring banks are adaptable to non-profits’ and LMI clients’ needs. 

Finally, in our blog, titled Banking for the People, Sueiro shares insights from experts about the promise of community-owned banks and public banking to make the banking system more equal and humane. Stay tuned throughout the rest of the month for more information on savings programs and policy, research, and support for non-profit practitioners who provide savings solutions on the ground.

The Case for Ongoing Cash Assistance

The devastating impact of COVID-19 on public health, employment and education sheds light on the deep-rooted inequities in this country. Many low-wage workers, racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants and women lost all streams of income and/or depleted their savings, while others worked on the front lines to keep our society afloat.

Through our 2020 emergency cash assistance work, we demonstrated that families need more money, plain and simple. To continue this, Prosperity Now and East Los Angeles Community Corporation (ELACC) are once again partnering, with support from the Wells Fargo Foundation, to launch a five-month unrestricted cash transfer initiative. Through this initiative, 72 families will receive $500 per month for five months to demonstrate just how impactful unrestricted funds can be to a household’s financial stability and an individual’s mental health. Prosperity Now will offer capacity-building and thought partnership to ELACC to support the launch of this initiative and enhanced data tracking processes to document the impact of these funds.

Grace-Mar’s Data-Driven Approach Powers Upward Mobility in Charlotte

How does a grassroots organization become a multi-million-dollar local service provider in just 12 years? According to Kenneth Smith, President of Grace-Mar Services Inc. in Charlotte, NC, it takes a lot of empathy from and trust from the community as well as external support. A key part of obtaining resources for your work is having the ability to effectively communicate the impact you have in your community. Grace-Mar aims to provide individuals and families with social capital to gain upward mobility and self-sufficiency via youth and adult job training and placement programs. Read More.

Medical Debt and its Impact on Health and Wealth: What Can Philanthropy Do to Help? | Asset Funders Network
This Asset Funders Network Report concludes that medical debt is the result of structural failures and racist systems and shares what philanthropy can do to alleviate the debt burden. 

Herramientas que puede usar cuando no pueda pagar sus facturas | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
The CFPB released 11 downloadable tools in Spanish as part of Your Money, Your Goals. The tools now available in Spanish include: Prioritizing bills, Bill calendar, and Cutting expenses. 

Building an Economy That Supports All Children Requires Raising the Minimum Wage | Center for American Progress
In this piece, the Center for American Progress advocates for an increased minimum wage in order to ensure all children have their basic needs met.

The Complete Financial Lives of Workers: A Holistic Exploration of Work and Public and Workplace Benefit Arrangements | Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute outlines how workplace benefits, including consistent hours and livable wages, can help LMI workers thrive.

Webinar: The Future of Worker Financial Security | Aspen Institute | April 28, 2021 

Baby Bonds at the State Level

As support for Baby Bonds programs continues to grow at the federal level, Prosperity Now has been actively working with several states on emerging proposals to bring Baby Bonds to the state level. From Iowa to New Jersey, our team is assessing the details of recent state proposals to help ensure they align with the intended goals behind the Baby Bonds concept, as well as complement the federal proposal. Learn more about the state proposals in our new blog post.

Advancing Communities Podcast: Prosperity Now CEO – Closing the Racial Wealth Divide, Michigan Business Network, March 12, 2021

Seattle’s racial wealth divide: A new look explores how we got here, Seattle Times, March 15, 2021

REPORT SHOWS RACIAL WEALTH DIVIDE GROWING IN SEATTLE, FORUM WILL EXPLORE SOLUTIONS, South Seattle Emerald, March 16, 2021

Free banking in California? New bill tackles access and racial equity, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2021

After pandemic lifts, some predict unequal economic rebound, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 9, 2021

How new expanded tax credits can benefit Milwaukee’s low-income communities of color, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 12, 2021

Have you ever considered joining the Prosperity Now team? Well, you’re in luck! Prosperity Now is growing, and we have open positions in the Communications, Development, Policy and Research Teams. Check out our Careers page to find all of our job openings, and please feel free to share these opportunities with anyone in your network!

Webinar Series: Pressing Forward: 2021 Policy Priorities to Advance Household Financial Stability
Last month, we wrapped up this series which outlined Prosperity Now’s federal policy priorities for the year around tax, financial security, affordable homeownership and consumer protections. If you missed the series, check out the recordings. 

Scorecard Cost-of-Living Profiles by State 
In addition to the updated policy data, the Prosperity Now Scorecard also includes state cost-of-living profiles, which provide more specific context on how working families are making ends meet.

The CSA Field Adapts to COVID-19 
Prosperity Now presents findings from its annual Children’s Savings Account (CSA) survey, including how programs and families are faring a year into the COVID-19 pandemic.