How to raise wealth in poor areas? That’s a question a group of representatives from Miami-Dade County, Citibank's Community Development unit and Florida International University researchers tried to answer during a meeting Monday at the Miami Herald editorial board.
The team came up with five solutions under a two-year pilot program called "The Prosperity Initiative".
Job growth is one program the team came up with, as is providing more affordable housing through community land trusts. A third option is through helping children learn about money with a savings account program.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava commissioned the “Miami-Dade County Prosperity Initiatives Feasibility Study". She said the children’s saving account program goes hand-in-hand with Miami public education.
“The children’s savings accounts operate in conjunction with the schools," Levine Cava said. "So that’s a partnership right there, it cannot really be done without school’s participation and that’s the model around the country.”
The study was conducted by Florida International University’s Metropolitan Centerand funded by Citibank’s Community Development unit.
One of the study’s authors is Kevin Greiner. He said the impact will affect a large portion of the county.
“411,000 people live in the 14 most distressed communities,” Greiner said.
The goal is to reach more than 2,300 families directly.
The Prosperity Initiative would fund five targeted programs, and would cost about $10 million dollars to implement.
