Courageous Philanthropy

Book excerpt: In the struggle to deal with large-scale disinvestment, rampant gentrification, and the unjust narrative of race and real estate, Vanica shares the power and possibility of achieving a shift in the fundamental long-term community control over decisions and assets through the resident ownership of neighborhood change. Courageous Philanthropy takes the reader on an inspiring two-decade-long journey to address the power dynamics between foundations and communities by each owning their own change and shows how working across differences and deliberating across cultures, faiths, ages, genders, and education levels to achieve change can be our now and not just our hopeful picture of the future. It is time, Vanica contends, to forge a new, more courageous relationship between foundations and the communities they seek to serve.