Mel King Institute Research

The Mel King Institute works with practitioners and experts to research emerging, salient topics and report on key insights for the community development field to incorporate.

Gentrification Learning Community Report and Resources

The Gentrification Learning Community was hosted by The Mel King Institute, and was facilitated by the Interaction Institute for Social Change. This group included housing and housing finance professionals, organizers, researchers, public officials, and more. This agenda reflects a broad consensus developed over the group’s 15-month learning journey to explore the drivers and impacts of gentrification on communities in Greater Boston, as well as strategies and solutions.

Check out the final report on lessons learned.

Check out the resources studied by the Gentrification Learning Community throughout the year and documentaries about gentrification to learn more about the issue.

The Health Impact of the Community Investment Tax Credit

Health Resources in Action along with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MADPH) conducted a health impact assessment of the work of CDCs in order to measure how the Community Investment Tax Credit program (CITC) will influence the health of Massachusetts communities. The report found that the core activities of CDCs are intimately linked to the physical, mental, and social determinants of health in the communities they serve. The report makes recommendations for CDC activities and funding that could be expanded to further the health benefits of CDC intiatives. The report also provides additional relevant and actionable information that can be used to evaluate local health impacts of CDCS and benefits of these activities.

Check out the report and accompanying videos here.

CDCs and Academic Partnerships

We worked with consultant Ann Silverman to investigate the relationships between community organizations and academic institutions in Massachusetts.  From our surveys and conversations, we found a rich landscape of programs and activities, including collaborations between the many CDCs and universities in Massachusetts, as well as other university community partnerships. We saw little coordination among the partnerships. These partnerships are very dependent on personal relationships and the particular motivations of the parties involved. We found some relatively new university-based collaborations that may present opportunities for Massachusetts CDCs and the communities that they serve, and a few examples of more comprehensive partnerships, some between universities and CDCs and some between universities and other community based organizations and government agencies that bear watching. We learned about changes in partnerships over time, as key players moved on and funds ran out. These changes represent some important lessons for the sustainability of partnerships going forward.

Read the report.