Woodstock Institute Starts Development Weblog

CHICAGO - Technology continues to make inroads into community development work, including work involving credit unions. Credit unions, their sponsors and other community organizations looking to access credit union services in the areas of financial literacy training, savings accounts for low-income members or payday lending alternatives now have a weblog, or blog, they can use in their search. "Blogs have emerged as an important source of information in the community development field," says Marva Williams, Woodstock senior vice president. "Forming these partnerships between community organizations and mainstream credit unions is challenging but the blog format promises to bring together community organizations, credit unions, and community development practitioners." With support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Ford Foundation, Woodstock offers technical assistance to sites across the country looking for credit union partnerships. Woodstock and the technical assistance sites currently communicate by site visit or conference call. The Building Community Assets blog will help facilitate discussion, critical review, and information exchange in a much more timely and strategic manner, said Woodstock. "The blog will also open up discussion to potential community partners and credit unions looking to expand in underserved communities," says Williams. Check out Building Community Assets, at www.woodstockinst.org/blog.