Rapid Response
Living Cities' nimbleness as an organization has enabled us to respond rapidly to crises that affect people and places we care about.
Foreclosure Crisis
In 2007, Living Cities recognized the urgency of finding promising approaches to address the realities of the foreclosure crisis. Understanding that there was no "one-size-fits-all" solution to reclaiming vacant and foreclosed properties, we approached key coalitions in over a dozen markets to learn more about their work, their needs and how Living Cities might best be able to support this work.
In the end, Living Cities chose 10 pilot programs from across the country that had the potential to offer promising new approaches to mitigating the impact of the foreclosure crisis by buying foreclosed properties and putting them back into productive use.
Gulf Coast Initiative
In response to the devastation wreaked by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Living Cities formally launched the Gulf Coast Initiative (GCI) in November 2005. Since that time, our member institutions have responded individually and generously to relief and rebuilding efforts, together investing over $254 million in the region. We have also drawn upon our history of successful collaboration to identify innovative approaches, seek out strategic investment opportunities and offer our support to local, state and federal leaders. We are promoting a comprehensive rebuilding process that not only restores the regions housing stock but also ensures neighborhoods of opportunity for all residents. In the past year, The Bush Clinton Katrina Fund engaged us to invest an additional $1.7 million to accelerate affordable housing and individual prosperity in the Gulf Coast with local nonprofit developers and financial institutions.