"Poor people would be empowered, the mayor argued, and homelessness would decline" Does anyone know of other places in the US that has taken this approach to

"Poor people would be empowered, the mayor argued, and homelessness would decline" Does anyone know of other places in the US that has taken this approach to poverty and what the results are? I am genuinely interested in understanding how "empowering the poor" works in the US. I know there are several reported successes with micro-lending to the poor in other countries, but I wonder if such go-getter mentality exists in the American society.