When Peacock was preparing to film “Long Bright River,” the TV series based on Liz Moore’s novel of the same name, Bill McKinney, executive director of New Kensington CDC (NKCDC), and a long time resident of Kensington got a call from the author. Soon, he was talking to Moore and the show’s producers, telling them about the real Kensington.

Over the course of a year, on a 15-house block behind New Kensington CDC’s Philadelphia offices, there were 15 shootings and 10 deaths. “It was a space where we’re very interactive,” said Bill McKinney, executive director of the NeighborWorks nonprofit. “It takes a toll on folks.” That means the community, of course. And it means staff members who work in and alongside that community every day.

Lori Gay has led California’s Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County, a NeighborWorks network nonprofit with a focus on revitalizing neighborhoods, for three decades now. During that time, she’s helped her community through adversities that have included the mortgage crisis, fires, earthquakes, riots and a pandemic. For the past five months, Los Angeles County has been in the spotlight again as wildfires ripped through Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. We asked Gay to share a few thoughts about leading during times like this.

Building and creating homes. That’s the foundation of the mission of NeighborWorks America and its network of excellence. And when we build homes, we also build America. 

“The NeighborWorks network continues to be one of the top builders of affordable rental and for-sale homes,” says Michael Butchko, vice president of Business Intelligence at NeighborWorks. “They are a critical part of this country’s infrastructure.”