Connecting communities through DATA-CENTERED storytelling.
The Courage to Dream for Someone Else
A Reflection as We Close the First 90 Days of 2026 Ninety days into a new year is a quiet but powerful checkpoint. The excitement of January resolutions has faded. The urgency of daily work has taken over. Calendars are full, deadlines are pressing, and the pace of...
Empowering Through Impact: Intern Spotlight on Camera Lemons
The Urban Strategies, Inc. (USI) CDFI, an economic vibrancy strategy, is implemented because we believe in investing in communities and the next generation of changemakers. One standout example of this investment is Camera Lemons, a finance major at Clark Atlanta...
When Systems Align: A Mother’s Path to Stability
In the summer of 2023, a single mother of three found herself on the brink. With unstable income and a monthly rent of $985, she was barely staying afloat. As costs piled up and income fluctuated, she began to fall behind on rent—despite doing everything she could to...
Beyond Capacity Building: A Call for Narrative Shift
Over our 45 years working in neighborhood transformation, we've learned that narrative matters. Prevailing narratives can either shape, reinforce or shift accepted truths, widely held mental models and prevailing biases. And ultimately, narratives influence the...
Community Reinvestment Act’s Shortcomings and the Judicial Plays
The Supreme Court's decision on June 29, 2023, effectively ending the consideration of race in college admissions in Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. V. President And Fellows Of Harvard College, has had far-reaching implications. The ruling overturned a longstanding...
Uniting Change with Healthy Partnerships Through Community Engagement & Outreach
USI’s Columbus and Sacramento have used the power of networking to secure reliable partnerships to provide much-needed events throughout the community that residents can rely on. USI prides itself on building trust in our communities to continue our commitment to...
Breaking Down Barriers with Families One Decision at a Time
Using Different Strategies to Break Down Barriers When families face unbearable circumstances, decisions could cost someone years of progress. People FirstUSI leans into helping families overcome barriers they deem impossible to overcome, like trying to receive...
Let Us Not Forget Puerto Rico
Each year, tourists flock to Puerto Rico to enjoy the natural wonders, cultural and historical buildings, and 300 miles of coastline that boasts some of the most beautiful beaches Mother Nature has to offer. Even in 2020, with all that was happening in the world,...
Solutions to Community Violence We Must Do Different
The Cycle of Implicit Bias During the course of the day, our brains receive millions of bits of information to process. There would be no possible way to do this efficiently were it not for our subconscious mind which sorts information into categories, creates...





