I was in high school in the early 1990s when the timber town where I grew up took it on the chin. Mill closures and job losses left workers and families who had done everything right scrambling just to survive. Local stores struggled, schools tightened budgets, and public services shrank. For many, lost paychecks led to lost faith in the system in the country.
During 12 years in Congress and now at The Rockefeller Foundation, I have seen that my hometown is similar to too many others. More than 50 million Americans live in economically distressed communities, marked by inadequate jobs, poorer health outcomes, higher crime, and frayed civic life.
