Dispatches: The Changing American Dream

Every day, the national media is full of stories about how American families, businesses, and neighbors are adjusting to these trying times.

There are so many changes happening so fast that it's dizzying: national debates about unemployment, foreclosures, debt, religion, government and private enterprise all touch on fundamental ways in which we see ourselves and our communities.

At Patch, we want to explore that conversation on a daily basis so we can better understand how our neighbors are adjusting to the challenges and opportunities that surround us.

For this reason, we are launching a new intiative called Dispatches, which will chronical the trials (and the triumphs) of how today's changing landscape is affecting our personal pursuit of the American Dream.

We don't think there's one American Dream, but a multitude of American Dreams which a multitude of people are working toward.

Looking out across nearly almost 900 Patch sites, we see businesses holding their breath deciding whether to expand; college graduates returning home because they can't find jobs; and senior citizens bringing boarders into their homes to help pay their bills.

We also see bold new volunteer efforts, inspiring stories of local businesses that succeed because they innovated, and locals who've taken these trying times as a signal to engage more, not less, in their government.

At the purely local level, we want to know where we, as residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant, fit along these fault lines.

Nationally, the job market is showing very slow recovery from the Great Recession. But how has that affected Bed-Stuy residents?

So far, locally, we have provided a heart-breaking and painful account of how the hemorrhaging job market slowly is unraveling the fabric of this culturally rich neighborhood, leaving singular threads/stories of desperation and despair:

Nationally, the economy is flailing wildly, trying to get back its footing. How has this affected the residents of Bed-Stuy?

Locally, crime—once on the decline in New York City—is on an upward trajectory in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where many of its residents, already on the brink are become either perpetrators of victims of crimes of opportunity, as a cutback in police presence may be reversing the the tide of change. We chronicled this in our crime series:

Also we've seen how local clergy and other community leaders have made some efforts to take matters into their own hands:

Nationally, the big ideas around green job development have languished in Congress while taking a back-seat to the problems of unemployment and the debt ceiling.

Locally, Bed-Stuy pushes forward anyway with green job training and initiatives that will help its residents to save energy, money and the environment:

And finally, nationally, how is the country going to offset further cuts in spending to the middle-class and poor citizens of this country, sending an already reeling population of families further over the cliff?

Locally, the mayor's office and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation are taking bold steps to independently address the needs and empower its residents with the tools not only to survive but to strive:

Dispatches will be built upon the compelling vignettes and snapshots we unearth across all of our Patch sites.

And, of course, we want your help: Tell us what issues and what stories in Bedford-Stuyvesant are affecting your pursuit of the American Dream.