When I was a kid, the center of my small, rural, Hudson Valley town featured an ice cream shop with a sticky, walk-up service window and a tiny, one-register grocery store where they carried one of practically everything. Today, the grocery is an antique store, and it sits a stone's throw from a new marketplace that peddles organic, farm-sourced products of a certain aesthetic, accordingly priced.

Community-based organizations (CBOs) that serve neighborhoods uniquely affected by the nation's long history of institutional housing discrimination are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate that history's effects and foster greater equity. However, little is known about how that history has shaped the work done by these groups or the unique challenges they have faced in doing it.

One of the highlights at any NeighborWorks Training Institute (NTI) is the chance to tour the communities where NeighborWorks network organizations are doing the work and having the greatest impact. Neighborhood tours offer NTI attendees a chance to learn, exchange ideas and be inspired. The May NTI in San Francisco, California, included several tours of Chinatown, with a stop at an SRO building. 

NeighborWorks America was built on a foundation of equity, inclusion, integrity and service. This month, the national nonprofit has named two individuals as the 2023 recipients of the NeighborWorks Founders Award, presented to those who embody NeighborWorks' core values and whose lasting contributions shaped both NeighborWorks and its network: Rev. Norman Fong and Donald R. Phoenix.

When Sean Spear interviewed to join Community HousingWorks (CHW), he told the board of directors that his priority was to foster an inclusive organization that better represents the communities and residents it serves. Based in San Diego, CHW has 45 development communities throughout California and is now expanding to the Houston area.  
 

Given the scope and intersections of many of the issues that our communities face, partnerships serve as one way to combine resources and share strengths. Both the 2008 foreclosure crisis and the impact from COVID-19 have continued to demonstrate the complex links among housing, health, economic well-being and educational outcomes.

In Missouri, a NeighborWorks network organization partners with a school district to improve educational outcomes for youth. Another network organization in California preserves cultural assets while combatting gentrification and displacement. In Ohio, they're collaborating with the healthcare sector to improve social determinants of health. 
 

Insurance, a repair business, a real estate firm and a sub-shop franchise. These are just some of the ways NeighborWorks network organizations earn revenue to support their nonprofits, which, with new management practices and processes, should help those nonprofits remain stable for years to come. 

Insurance, a repair business, a real estate firm and a sub-shop franchise. These are just some of the ways NeighborWorks network organizations earn revenue to support their nonprofits, which, with new management practices and processes, should help those nonprofits remain stable for years to come.