What is the community you are working in and what makes it unique? I’m working in Oscoda Township. It’s unique because it is in the northeast part of the state and there are so many challenges that come with being removed from freeways and being a little off the beaten path. We also think of...
CEDAM’s community development fellowship places 10 fellows in communities engaged or certified in MEDC’s Redevelopment Ready Communities for a fifteen month placement that started June 2020. This blog post is a part of our #FellowFeature series highlighting the work fellows are doing to support and advance the community economic development goals of their communities. CEDAM’s director of...
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’s community development fellowship places 10 fellows in communities engaged or certified in MEDC’s Redevelopment Ready Communities for a fifteen month placement that started June 2020. This blog post is a part of our #FellowFeature series highlighting the work fellows are doing to support and advance the community economic development goals of their communities. CEDAM’s...
Written by Madeleine March-Meenagh and Brian Rakovitis, CEDAM Being banked is foundational to good financial health. Without a checking or savings account, “unbanked” households pay more in fees and interest for financial products than banked households— yearly they pay up to $3,000 per household, have limited access to credit, and lack protections for their money....
Written by CEDAM’s Madeleine March-Meenagh, junior program evaluation associate and Brian Rakovitis, manager of financial empowerment initiatives COVID-19 has robbed us of our health and economic security; now it seeks to steal our youth’s hope for the future. A recent study shows the pandemic has precipitated an aspirations crisis for youth and young adults. The...
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...
By Benjamin Andrews, junior policy associate The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a nationwide eviction moratorium on Friday, September 4. The CDC recognizes the necessity of sanitation, distancing, and quarantining throughout this pandemic, and that these precautions are best enabled by people remaining stably housed. The moratorium—in place until December 31, 2020—is an important...
