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.

The majority of NeighborWorks network organizations have initiatives that address the interconnection between affordable homes and healthier living. Some of these projects include food pantries, exercise classes and community gardens. Programs like these are important, but there are also opportunities to have an even greater impact on a community's health by partnering with health industry organizations, according to Romi Hall, NeighborWorks America's director of healthy homes and communities.  
 

Erich Nakano, executive director of Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), says his journey to housing and community development began with three events. An activist whose parents sought to amplify stories about Japanese internment in the United States, Nakano says friends, family and fellow college students all shined lights on a path to working with the community he loved.

The 1970s

A NeighborWorks America network organization in Ohio was able to help staff and East Akron residents with personal protective equipment (PPE), homeownership education and even groceries, thanks to a boost from NeighborWorks America and national banking partner Fifth Third Bank.

In February, just two weeks after Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female vice president, a portrait of her stood on display near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The installation, created by Simon Berger, used broken glass as a medium. It was an homage to the latest shattering of the "glass ceiling."