Said Marianne S. Szeto of the Shape Up San Francisco Coalition,

“Datacenter… pulled out key concepts into sidebars and tables, and organized information so that it is intuitive for our audience. Always professional and courteous, the DataCenter staff was a delight to work with and the end result was a polished and useful document that we can share with policymakers, community-based organizations, and other partners.”

Check out the full report.

More information about the  Shape UP San Francisco Coalition.

View the Report Card

Acknowledgements

DataCenter provided research support to the Right to the City Los Angeles on a report card based on 481 surveys of residents living in Koreatown, South Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.  The survey, similar to what the city uses for its housing inspections, found residents living in substandard housing – facing issues of infestations and problems with the structure (particularly walls and ceiling), plumbing, heating, wiring and building upkeep and safety.  The report card fails the city in its role to provide habitable living conditions for most tenants and its Code Enforcement process that has not worked.  RTTC LA will use the report card to urge the City of Los Angeles to enact stricter policies along with community based solutions to improve the housing and living conditions for over 1 million tenants in the City.

The survey was implemented by Right to the City Alliance members: ¡Comunidad Presente!, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, South Asian Network, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, Union de Vecinos with additional research support provided by UCLA Professor Jackie Leavitt.

you can download the report here (pdf).

Check out the article in National Organizer’s Alliance Ark Magazine about the Sustaining Organizing Survey!

Stay tuned for additional local events this summer and fall where we’ll discuss the findings of the Sustaining Organizing Study around the country and online.  Updates will be available on the blog: Sustaining Organizing.

The Right to the City Alliance, along with DataCenter support, recently released a public housing report titled “We Call These Projects Home”.  Read the Huffington Post’s op-ed about the report and download the PDF report here!

We are pleased to announce the release of “The Quality of Life for Southeast Asian Youth in Providence” by Providence Youth Movement (PrYSM).   The report has been 4-years in the making, and includes data from the Southeast Asian Youth Survey, conducted by PrYSM youth back in 2006.  The survey interviewed over 360 Southeast Asian youth living in Providence, RI.  DataCenter provided support and training for the project.   It will be released at S.E.A. The Future, a conference which will take place on May 15-16, 2010, at the MET -Peace Street Campus.   The convening is historical and is the first initiative to bring together a large sector of Southeast Asian community leadership in Rhode Island – they are expecting to bring together 140-150 youth and adult leaders, stakeholders, and decision-makers.

Congratulations to Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) member leaders, who, as a result of undergoing the first DataCenter-MUA participatory research project in 2006, designed and implemented their own survey project. DataCenter provided data analysis and technical support towards the end of the project.  The newly released bilingual report, “Echoes from the Silence: Raising Our Voices” shares the results from a 2008 study conducted by MUA members. The objective was to understand the experiences of Latina immigrant survivors of domestic violence in the Bay Area, and offer recommendations how to improve services for Latina immigrant survivors of family violence.  MUA is a leader in strategically applying tools of social science to make their stories impact policy!

full report 13 pages, PDF, requires free Adobe Acrobat®Reader.

Download report

In August, KIWA in association with DataCenter released Reclaiming Koreatown, a report that presents current and future needs of neighborhood residents and analyzes the challenges facing the multi-ethnic, low-income Koreatown community in Los Angeles.  Rent increases, the reduction of affordable housing, displacement, unaffordable new businesses, an increase in traffic, and a decrease in parking are among top concerns, with up to 90% of surveyed residents expressing concern about these issues. The report calls for development that is accountable to the Koreatown resident community and puts forth a set of principles for improving housing affordability and economic well-being.

full report 28 pages, PDF, requires free Adobe Acrobat®Reader.

Download Report

Displacing the Dream: A report on Bay Area newspaper coverage of development and gentrification
by the Center for Media Justice (formerly Youth Media Council) with support from DataCenter

The YMC has spent much of this year analyzing 3 months of coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland Tribune, and the San Jose Mercury News. The result is this report on the dominant and missing stories in coverage of gentrification and displacement in the Bay. With contributions from anti-displacement groups in SF and Oakland and the Miami Workers Center, research support from the DataCenter, and poetry by Roopa Singh, Displacing the Dream promises to be a groundbreaking tool to support creative communications strategies for organizers in the Bay and beyond.

full report 33 pages, PDF, requires free Adobe Acrobat®Reader.
Download report

by Justice Matters with support from DataCenter

October 2007

In an era of high-stakes testing, there are policies and practices in West Contra Costa Unified School District that result in a narrow, unresponsive, and superficial education for thousands of low-income students of color. Behind the Test Scores: Teaching and Learning Under Arrest reports on a survey of West Contra Costa teachers. The survey results reveal discriminatory practices that shape which students receive extra attention and which do not; classrooms stripped of science, history, art, and P.E.; and schools that fail to prepare students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. This teaching and learning crisis students are facing is due to a climate that emphasizes test scores over high quality learning that prepares students for their futures.

full report 21 pages, PDF, requires free Adobe Acrobat®Reader.

Download report

Appalachian Coalfield Delegation Position Paper on Sustainable Energy
by Appalachian Coalfield Delegation & DataCenter

Spring 2007

Appalachian grassroots groups join forces with DataCenter to release a scathing report on the impact of coal mining to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The Delegation created an historic moment with its powerful stories and diverse outreach. Alliances were forged and the civil society discourse on energy, particularly what is sustainable energy and who gets to define it, has been challenged. Their answer—”it comes from the people!” As most government officials continue to ignore the atrocities of mountain top removal, coal sludge impoundments, and underground injections of sludge, it is up to the people of the Appalachian coal fields to let the world know the harsh realities of an economy built on seemingly cheap electricity.

full report 22 pages, PDF, requires free Adobe Acrobat®Reader (2007)

Download report