The Family Independence Initiative grew out of deep frustration with the government programs designed to help poor people. Located in San Francisco, Maurice Lim Miller, the head of an anti-poverty program, was upset when he discovered that the millions of dollars he spent to help the poor actually hurt them. As a result he resigned and started a new approach that put the families in charge.
It is radically successful.
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Look to
Residents For Solutions in Baltimore
The frustration and destruction we've seen in Baltimore is not just about
the injustice felt about law enforcement. These are long-standing
frustrations about inequality in the country. It is likely that the city
of Baltimore and philanthropy will respond with new programs and services
to quell the frustration. But quelling frustration or making life in
poverty more tolerable will not overcome the roots of our growing
inequality and outbursts we have seen in so many cities. We have tried
programs, new parks, and outside volunteers. What we haven’t truly tried
is turning to the residents themselves and supporting their
solutions.
There are solutions, ideas, and talents embedded in the residents in
these communities and we can find those willing to tackle and build their
own communities from the inside out. For 14 years, FII has collected the
data and stories from these embedded resident social innovators. We know
that if instead of trying to placate them with services, we give them
control over the resources we spend trying to help them, that the
residents themselves can and will build their own solutions, build their
own neighborhoods, and close the inequality gap that is really at the
root of the frustration we are seeing in Baltimore.
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