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OAS Stories

The best way to understand how our Organizational Assessment Services can transform your organization is to learn about how it has transformed other nonprofits. Read case studies and participant profiles below:

Woodlawn Foundation: Comprehensive Revitalization

Woodlawn Foundation has come a long way in its brief history, pursuing the revitalization of its Birmingham neighborhood in a holistic way. Since its formation in 2010, Woodlawn Foundation has worked to break the cycle of poverty and help to build the local asset base.
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New Hope Housing image of people giving house keys

New Hope Housing, Inc
When Houston LISC offered New Hope Housing the opportunity to have a NeighborWorks assessment, President and CEO Joy Horak-Brown was delighted and honored. The key objective of the assessment was to review our asset and property management functions and to help us develop strategies for continued growth.

CASA of Oregon: In Search of Excellence

The board of Community and Shelter Assistance Corp (CASA of Oregon) had finished participating in NWA Excellence in Governance Pilot in 2012. At the same time, Lisa Rogers, the deputy director had just completed Achieving Excellence. As the board and staff spent a couple years working through their multiple performance challenges, they came to the realization that an independent assessment of the organization could provide the insight needed to continue on their journey in search of excellence.

OAS Capacity Assessments for Native CDFIs

During 2015 and 2016, the CDFI Fund engaged OAS to conduct assessments of eight CDFIs serving Native American communities. The assessments were part of larger NeighborWorks America capacity building initiatives for Native CDFIs.

Interfaith Housing Services, Hutchinson, Kansas

Interfaith Housing Services is a mission driven organization that has become a significant provider of affordable housing and home repair in three south-central Kansas counties. After completing the Achieving Excellence program, President and CEO John Scott reached out to OAS and commissioned a PROMPT® assessment in an effort to ensure the organization’s continued sustainability.

National Collaboration Assists Chicago Housing Developer

NeighborWorks America’s Organizational Assessment Services (OAS) recently completed an assessment of Chicago Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation (CMHDC). Enterprise is now providing technical assistance to help CMHDC address recommendations from the OAS report.

Sabin Community Development Corporation

Concerned citizens formed Sabin CDC in 1991 to stabilize and improve the livability of culturally diverse neighborhoods of inner northeast Portland, Oregon. A Sabin CDC partner, the Portland Housing Bureau, wanted to help the nonprofit ensure long term sustainability and prepare for an office renovation in a building that provided 11 families with rental homes, so they recommended the executive director contact OAS for an assessment.

Better Serving Oregon Communities with OAS Tools

Oregon Housing originally contracted with NeighborWorks Organizational Assessment Services (OAS) to offer specific ways to work with local organizations to help them improve their operations and maximize housing production in Oregon communities. The experience was so positive that, three years later, Oregon Housing contracted with OAS again.

Community Foundation of South Alabama

The Community Foundation of South Alabama in Mobile serves an eight county area near the Gulf Coast. An assessment began just after the retirement of its chief executive who had led the foundation since 1985.

Temporary Emergency Services, Inc.

When a massive F-5 tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2011, Temporary Emergency Services Inc. responded to the call before federal or state aid was widely available. The tornado struck a few months after completion of a NeighborWorks^® America capacity assessment, which “came at just the right time”, according to executive director Karen Thompson.

High Plains Community Development Corporation

As a key agency promoting sustainable change through rural economic development, High Plains CDC was interested in determining key opportunities for stability and growth within their own organization. The organizational assessment was key to helping them think through critical issues and develop new resources.

Grid Alternatives

Operating with a belief that economic and environmental sustainability should be linked, GRID welcomed the OAS assessment to help consider ways to strengthen the organization’s infrastructure to manage the rapid growth it would undergo. Now GRID Alternatives operates seven regional offices and has installed over 2,600 solar electric systems in partnership with low-income families throughout California.

Hacienda Community Development Corporation

Our assessment of Hacienda CDC highlighted the need for a multi-year strategic plan, a recommendation Merced strongly supported. Hacienda board members told Merced the assessment was “a real eye opener” that was “motivational”.

Next Step

To achieve their mission, Next Step has begun to develop a network of experienced nonprofit organizations to act as distributors of the homes to families across the nation. They engaged NeighborWorks Organizational Assessment Services to conduct targeted assessments of five nonprofits to help them build a providers’ network and identify any training needs..

15 CDFIs Receive Off-Site Assessments

The 15 CDFIs differed in their mission focus, organizational size and geographic location. They included six CDFIs that are part of NeighborWorks organizations and nine outside the network. For network CDFIs, the assessments offered a deeper analysis of their lending LOB with specific recommendations to match. Each of the CDFIs opted to have the assessments following financial courses provided through NeighborWorks Training Institutes.

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OAS Stories

The best way to understand how our Organizational Assessment Services can transform your organization is to learn about how it has transformed other nonprofits. Read case studies and participant profiles below:

For more information, contact: