the kirwan institute's opportunity communities program

THE KIRWAN INSTITUTE 5TH ANNIVERSARY

The Opportunity

Communities Program

March 19, 2009

Moritz Law School

The Ohio State University

Columbus, OH

Jason Reece, AICP

Senior Researcher

The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity

The Ohio State University

Reece.35@osu.edu

Co-hosted by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity and the

Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

Opportunity Communities

Today’s discussion

Opportunity matters

The foundation of our work

The Opportunity

Communities model and

program

What is it

Application and impact

Recent examples

Section 1

Opportunity Matters: Space, Place, and Life Outcomes

“Opportunity” is a situation or condition that places individuals in a

position to be more likely to succeed or excel

Opportunity structures are critical to opening pathways to success:

High-quality education

Healthy and safe environment

Stable housing

Sustainable employment

Political empowerment

Outlets for wealth-building

Positive social networks

Section 2

4

Opportunity Matters:

Neighborhoods & Access to Opportunity

Five decades of research indicate that your environment has a profound impact on your access to opportunity and likelihood of success

High poverty areas with poor employment, underperforming schools, distressed housing and public health/safety risks depress life outcomes

A system of disadvantage

Many manifestations

Urban, rural, suburban

People of color are far more likely to live in opportunity deprived neighborhoods and communities

Which community would you choose?

To be safe and have positive health outcomes? For your kids to receive a quality

education? Which community would be better for employment and have a more

sustainable tax base?

What are the implications of

opportunity isolation?

Individual

Poor economic outcomes, lower educational

outcomes, degraded asset development

Poor health conditions, higher exposure and risk from

crime

Psychological distress, weak social and professional

networks

Community/Economy

High social costs, distressed and stressed

communities, fiscal challenges

Weakened civic engagement and democratic participation

Underdeveloped human capital, poor labor outlook, poor

economic development prospects

The Opportunity Communities

Model

The “Communities of Opportunity” framework is a model of social justice, fair housing and community development based on the premises that everyone should have fair access to the critical opportunity structures needed to succeed in life.

Affirmatively connecting people to opportunity creates positive, transformative change for individuals, communities and our society.

The Communities of Opportunity model advocates for a fair investment in all of a region’s people and neighborhoods -- to improve the life outcomes of all citizens, and to improve the health of entire regions.

Producing Opportunity

Communities

Planning for

Opportunity Communities

Opportunity Based Fair Housing

Neighborhood Revitalization

Equitable Regional Policy

Opportunity Mapping

Systems Analysis

Inequality has a geographic footprint

Maps can visually track the history and presence of discriminatory and exclusionary policies that spatially segregate people

Identifying places with gaps in opportunity can help direct future investment and identify structures which impede access to opportunity

(Strategic Intervention Points to produce change)

Section 3

Mapping Opportunity: Why and How

Application and Impact

In the past five years our model has been

utilized in communities across the nation

to promote social justice

Expanding opportunity for marginalized

groups

Recent examples:

Regional equity in Cleveland, OH

Public housing residents and fair housing in

Baltimore, MD

Legal services neighborhoods and racial isolation in

MA

Kirwan’s significant contributions to the

field Subprime lending and race

Mapping and social justice

Opportunity based housing and community

development

Systems thinking and social justice

Opportunity Communities in

Litigation: Thompson v. HUD

(Remedial Proposal) Director powell’s

involvement in both the liability and remedy phases of the litigation, on behalf of NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Maryland ACLU

Used the opportunity community model to identify solutions for a fair housing for the Baltimore region Potential impact on 7,000 public

housing families in the Baltimore region

MA Legal Services and Opportunity Communities

Background on this project

Originated from effort to incorporated structural analysis into legal services

Partners

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, MA Legal Assistance Corp and other Legal Services Entities

Impacts National Consumer Law Center, State

opportunity assessment, Adopt a Zip Code

Section 1

14

To access this report and other resources please

visit us on-line at: www.kirwaninstitute.org