Innovative Program Will Use Community Reinvestment to Create Jobs
July 15, 2010 - PUSH Buffalo, National People's Action and Green For All joined together on Tuesday, July 13th at the Cornell ILR School to convene representatives of regulatory agencies, financial institutions, and foundations to present Green Jobs for Buffalo, a community-based urban green jobs training and job placement program. We managed to get 5 banks, a Wall St. consulting firm, elected officials, the New York Fed, the FDIC, and the OCC all in one room to listen to real people talk about neighborhood based solutions to community problems!
Grants to the program are expected to serve as qualified Community Reinvestment Act investments for the purposes of satisfying bi-annual bank examinations. The program's community-based genesis, its integration of best practices in urban green job creation, and the program's CRA worthiness make Green Jobs for Buffalo a unique option for promoting high-impact community reinvestment. As we always say, for us going green isn't just a lifestyle, it's about survival. “Green Jobs Buffalo aims to create pathways out of poverty for emerging sectors in the green economy,” said Grady Davis, a PUSH leader. “We know what we need where we live and part of the answer to rebuilding our neighborhoods is getting people trained and into the green collar economy.”
PUSH and NPA have partnered with Green For All to turn Green Jobs Buffalo into a national model for how to translate banks' CRA responsibilities into real neighborhood development. People are Policymakers!
