As part of NeighborWorks Weeks, NeighborWorks® America staff members joined organizations across the country to speak, volunteer and celebrate. This visit to a network organization in Arlington, Virginia, gave staff a chance to participate together.

At least five volunteer Santa Clauses will help Montgomery Housing Partnership, the Kensington Chamber of Commerce and the Wheaton Fire and Rescue Squad hand out gifts to residents as part of the Angels for Children Toy Drive. The program, which has been going for 27 years to get gifts to kids around holiday time, is growing. But there’s also a growing need, says Robert A. Goldman, executive director of MHP.

Whitley D. English has spent her entire life in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s where she grew up, worked and raised her two children. It’s also where she survived the most traumatic experience of her life: intimate partner violence. 

She was left with two black eyes, multiple facial fractures, a missing tooth and a hospital stay. “I was left with a long road to recovery and justice,” she said.  

The neighborhood where Chester Dewitt grew up, known as Chad Brown, has a reputation. “There came a time that whenever a violent crime made the news, it was called ‘Chad Brown-related,’” he said. 

As NeighborWorks America wraps up an impactful year – during which the national nonprofit celebrated its 45th anniversary of creating and preserving affordable housing and strengthening communities – staff members look back on the moments that instilled them with the most pride.