Stimulus, Swings and Social Enterprise

by Carla I. Javits, President, REDF

Amidst the news of stock market gyrations, rising unemployment and relentless foreclosures, I heard a CNN commentator suggest a great metaphor for the timing of ‘stimulus’ and its effect on the economy.

He said that fiscal stimulus can be compared to a parent pushing a swing. If your child is flying up in the air on the other side of the bar and you push, nothing happens. If they’re heading your way, poised right in the middle and you push, the swing may keep coming and hit you in the chin. But if you push when the swing is right at that sweet spot – at the top of its arc toward you – your push has real impact and you hear the giggles all the way up the other side... More »

REDF's Partnership with St. Vincent de Paul Results in Profitability

The low-slung, nondescript buildings at the gritty corner of San Pablo and 23rd streets in Oakland, California are, at a glance, worlds apart from the tree-lined suburban landscape 22 miles south in the city of Fremont. But for St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County (SVdP), both of these San Francisco Bay Area communities are vital to the success of the organization's mission...  More »