The Foundation in Five May Edition!

David Gardner and Jennifer Gennaro Oxley bring you a high-energy update on the Motley Fool Foundation’s latest happenings from May. The Foundation in Five is an opportunity to learn what we are doing right now to help people take their next step toward Financial Freedom. Watch the Month of May in Review

Issue Spotlight: The Affordable Housing Crisis, Understanding the Challenges and Seeking Solutions

We hear a lot about mortgage interest rates and sinking housing affordability for home buyers in the current market, and that is certainly a huge problem, but for the roughly 70% of extremely low-income families that are paying more than half their income on rent, the problem is much more severe than the movement of a quarter percent of interest.
Two out of every three people in America live paycheck to paycheck, which includes rents that have far exceeded their incomes. That’s why it’s so important that we don’t simply brush this problem aside and instead seek to understand better the affordable housing crisis and how we can help improve the situation.  Read More.

Interventions That Are Helping People NOW: The Latest From Our Financial Freedom Rule Breakers
The Financial Freedom Rule Breaker program is the signature initiative of The Motley Fool Foundation. It is our opportunity to identify the winning interventions – the most Foolish philanthropic investments. Together with our donors, we add value to the endeavors of these social entrepreneurs by providing an unrestricted monetary investment, advice, connections through the Fools for Good community, and increased awareness through the Fool platform.

Kimberly Driggins, Executive Director of The Washington Housing Conservancy celebrated the close of April’s Fair Housing Month with an article:  Fair Housing:  Inclusive, Equitable and Affordable

Fifty-six years ago this month, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, a landmark civil rights legislation that made it unlawful to discriminate in housing transactions. At the heart of fair housing is the principle that everyone deserves access to safe, affordable housing, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or disability. Read More

In the News
This Month we are celebrating Molly Hemstreet, Financial Freedom Rule Breaker and Co-Executive Director of Industrial Commons.  She and her team are demonstrating and spreading a new economic development model for rural America, rooted in worker-owned manufacturing, heritage industries, and a stable middle-class labor market.
The Big Win: 

The Industrial Commons has won a $15M grant from the U.S National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine! The organization will lead the North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine (NCTISE) alongside several textile related institutions and educational partners. The grant can potentially be up to $160 million over 10 years and the goal is to accelerate the nation’s capacity for advancing textile innovation, sustainability and circularity.

Donor Spotlight: Kenneth Bridges

“As a Black child growing up in segregated Detroit, my world was dull, gray and doleful. “Decrepit and depressing” characterized the people and places around me. Fortunately, a chance at education produced unimageable career opportunities and Financial Freedom. With this, my world exploded into a rainbow of colors. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the multichromatic birthright of every American. Financial Freedom is the foundation of that birthright. The Motley Fool Foundation has afforded me a chance to pass that gift along to others.”

Help us develop more pathways to Financial Freedom – so more strivers can become thrivers!  You can join our mission by donating your time, talent, or treasure, at Foolfoundation.org.

As a public charity, The Motley Fool Foundation relies on contributed dollars from The Motley Fool and our independent public donors.  We are always stronger together.