Letter from the Editor Letter from the Editor

June 2, 2016

Greetings from your interim Communities & Banking guest editor!

Our cover story by Ronald Lee and Peter Orszag reveals that the shorter life expectancy of poorer people means that federal benefits for the elderly disproportionately help the well-off. Three articles focus on education: Claire Berkowitz covers the work of Maine Children's Alliance to end expulsions of children from early education settings. Bahar Akman Imboden and Yiming Shuang examine how reaching out to low-income families through mobile technology has boosted use of children's savings accounts to help pay for college. And Claire Greene looks at an innovative internship program at a network of charter high schools.

Continuing the theme, Thomas Phillips surveys programs in Connecticut that help opportunity youth and older workers become qualified for further education and better-paying jobs. And Kathleen Cloutier discusses how Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island is helping local refugees and immigrants integrate into life and work in the United States.

On redevelopment, Lavea Brachman and Torey Hollingsworth write about revitalizing legacy cities, while Joe Short tells of business forces changing the landscape in northern New York and New England's Northern Forest region. An article by Sophie Kelmenson, Todd BenDor, and T. William Lester on the economic benefits of ecological restoration work completes the trio.

Finally, Ludy Biddle describes efforts to make home energy-efficiency measures affordable for low- and middle-income Vermonters, and Amy Higgins presents data on coronary heart disease rates in New England counties.

Enjoy, and please share your thoughts with us, along with your email (for our subscriber database). We'd love to hear from you.

Francesca Forrest

Guest Editor
CommunityDevelopment@bos.frb.org

Articles may be reprinted if Communities & Banking and the author are credited and the following disclaimer is used: "The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston or the Federal Reserve System. Information about organizations and upcoming events is strictly informational and not an endorsement."

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