This is it, my final day as an employee of the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM). It has been almost 13 years in the making; more than a quarter of my life. For those that were not around, I started at CEDAM in March of 2008. The country was in the midst of...
Written by Madeleine March-Meenagh, program analyst Program evaluations can take on many forms, but they all serve the same fundamental purpose: to see what’s working and what can be done to improve. (Sometimes they can even help us check off a funding requirement!) Every three years, CEDAM reevaluates its AmeriCorps State program for all of...
CEDAM is excited to introduce its new coalition manager, Melvin Henley! Melvin was previously an organizational development consultant and strategy specialist at Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW) and joins the CEDAM team with a wide range of experiences including strategy planning, board development and more. I met with Melvin (over Zoom) to learn more about...
A quick glance at Michigan’s growing CSA field By Brian Rakovitis, manager of financial empowerment initiatives Removing barriers to postsecondary attainment in Michigan provides more opportunities for low- and moderate-income communities, improves the quality of life for residents, and helps combat inequality. Savings play an important role in achieving increased attainment. Studies have found that...
Contributors: City of Lansing, CEDAM, John Hopkins Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) First… A bit of background As the old saying goes, you can’t see the forest for the trees. When you are too close to a situation you sometimes need to step back and gain some perspective, even invite a fresh pair of eyes...
2020 Show Me the Money Day events reached more than 2,300 Michigan residents. Want to bring an event to your community next year? Read through to find how! Show Me the Money Day (SMTMD) is a statewide community and financial resource fair designed to connect low- and moderate-income individuals and families with safe and affordable...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 27, 2020 Contact: Jessica AcMoody Policy Director, CEDAM acmoody@cedamichigan.org (517) 231-6139 Payday Lending Expansion Bill Passes in the Michigan House The proposed legislation could result in borrowers owing more than $4,000 on a $2,500 loan LANSING— Today the Michigan House of Representatives approved House...
By Brian Rakovitis, manager of financial empowerment initiatives On March 19, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a joint statement on CRA consideration for activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The joint statement details changes to financial institutions when working with customers, expands...
We’ve seen the many ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected and altered our daily lives and business as we know it. The crisis is exposing the weaknesses in our social safety net like never before—and financially vulnerable households that were living paycheck-to-paycheck before the pandemic are especially at risk. There are immediate and long-term...
By Ross Yednock, Director of the MEIC at CEDAM Michigan policy has long held our state’s families living in or near poverty back from saving for emergencies and planning for the future. That has now changed, thanks to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement earlier this year that increased asset limits for three Michigan assistance programs. As...
