Blocks of Hope in Harlem alongside some video on the SIB topic. Happy scrolling and have a good weekend.
How An Ambitious New Program Aims To Fight Poverty And Help Kids Learn, One Block At A Time
Ann Schimke – Chalkbeat
Called “Blocks of Hope,” the effort began in the summer of 2014. It’s modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City and tackles one of the biggest questions in education: What can be done to mitigate the pernicious effects of poverty on student success?
The project’s leaders from the nonprofit Growing Home believe the answer is a “place-based” approach that provides young children in a tightly defined geographic area with everything they need to succeed.
Finding a way to pay for it
Currently, Blocks of Hope receives funding from around a half-dozen sources, including foundations, private donors and local government.
In 2009, Growing Home applied for a federal Promise Neighborhood grant for the project, and a few years later pursued a funding mechanism called “social impact bonds,” in which private investors pay for interventions up front and get their money back if the programs produce results. Neither option panned out.
While the nonprofit has received some key grants for Blocks of Hope and hopes a new District 50 effort to explore social impact bonds could eventually support the project, Sienicki is candid about the financial challenges.
An Introduction To Social Impact Bonds (Video)
dailymotion
How social impact investing could change the way philanthropy is done. Takeaways from the 2015 Stanford Graduate School of Business Entrepreneur.