The funding takes a very different tack from most philanthropic work on housing. It seeks to build organizing power for those at risk of eviction rather than making low-cost loans, for instance.
Also, two foundations gave $20 million to expand internet access for households in the Cleveland area, and the Knight Foundation awarded $1.5 million to back Black and women entrepreneurs in Macon, Ga.
To understand why it’s important to support healing-focused approaches to structural racism, philanthropy should take time to learn the horrible history of government-sanctioned boarding schools designed to obliterate Indigenous cultures.
The Biden administration’s decision to waive intellectual property rights for the Covid-19 vaccine is a remarkable first step toward remaking a monopolistic, profit-driven system that is literally killing people. American philanthropy needs to join the growing global movement to create a new approach.
Faith in the Valley has been focused on racial justice in that area for many years, which allowed it to move quickly to expand programs as additional money came in 2020.