EquityBlog

Late last week, PolicyLink submitted comments in response to the Federal Transit Administration’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on the New Starts and Small Starts Programs.

Read our full comments here: Leveraging the New Starts Program to Build Communities of Opportunity_PolicyLink

Here is a sample:

As a leader in the movement to build more equitable transportation policy, PolicyLink is deeply invested in the success of the New Starts and Small Starts programs. As the largest federal source of funding for building our nation’s public transportation systems, the New Starts and Small Starts programs play a significant role in shaping communities around the nation.

If leveraged well, these programs can foster more equitable, sustainable, and opportunity-rich communities throughout the country.

The transportation projects that are funded by the New Starts and Small Starts Programs should build healthy, sustainable communities of opportunity—places with quality schools, access to good jobs with family-supporting wages, affordable housing choices, public transportation, safe and walkable streets, parks, healthy environments, access to healthy food, and strong social networks.

First, this means increasing transportation access and mobility for communities where public transportation is unaffordable, unreliable, or nonexistent, most often in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

This also means leveraging the New Starts and Small Starts Programs to: reduce housing, transportation, and energy costs for working families; improve health outcomes (particularly disproportionate health impacts on disadvantaged communities); and link low-income workers and minority-owned firms to economic opportunities in the transportation industry.

This post is written by PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell

Keep the Promise:

Don’t Underfund the Most Promising Anti-Poverty Program in Decades

We’ve all seen the American Express commercials – Geoffrey Canada telling of his long and noble fight to improve the lives of thousands of children as head of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

But Geoff needs our help in the Senate now to realize his vision of bringing all children a core pipeline of services, from birth to college.

Geoff’s work has been extraordinary. He has boosted the opportunities and expanded the possibilities of countless children. When President Obama heard about this success, he promised to expand HCZ’s strategy to needy communities across America – help the “block by block” strategy expand community by community.

And the President kept his word – creating the Promise Neighborhoods program to help other communities build their own comprehensive anti-poverty programs based on the lessons learned in Harlem.

Last year, Congress approved $10 million in planning grants to help communities sketch out their own Promise Neighborhoods.

Nationwide, the response was overwhelming. Nearly 1,000 groups organized to apply for the grants, with more than 330 organizations (representing every state) formally applying just last month – all for twenty grants of up to $500,000.

The next crucial step was the President’s request for $210 million in FY 2011 to help actually make these plans into reality. It is a vital investment that would plant the seeds for growth and opportunity in countless neighborhoods.

But those seeds may never get a chance to grow.

A House subcommittee overseeing the Promise Neighborhoods program drastically pared back the President’s request, slating the effort for just $60 million – not nearly enough to help communities implement this proven, pragmatic solution to child poverty.

And even that amount isn’t safe.

As soon as this Tuesday, the Senate subcommittee overseeing the program will meet to decide whether to fund the program at its full amount. We must invest what’s needed in order for this program to truly thrive – and for potentially millions of children to benefit from the lessons of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

These key senators need to hear from you. They must hear that our economic future – and the talents of millions of children – is at stake.

Click here to tell Senate leaders to make it right and fully fund the Promise Neighborhoods Program.

(For more information on Promise Neighborhoods, please visit www.PromiseNeighborhoodsInstitute.org).