NeighborWorks America celebrates NeighborWorks Week and positive impact of empowering communities, creating housing stability

Despite challenging Housing Market, NeighborWorks network helps communities succeed 

Washington, D.C. – RealEstateRama – NeighborWorks Week is recognized annually during the first week of June. The 39th year of the weeklong celebration this year falls on June 4-11 and the NeighborWorks network of service organizations will celebrate “Empowering Communities for Success.” NeighborWorks America consistently invests in America’s communities providing grants, support, resources and research to empower communities for success. This success is manifested in the form of grants, homeownership, foreclosure and eviction prevention, financial counseling, and resource, education and training to help communities flourish.

“NeighborWorks’ network organizations empower people to change their life trajectory, one mortgage, improved credit score, affordable rental home, or leadership training course at a time,” said Katie Watts, Senior Vice President of Field Operations. “Our continued investment in the success of communities is manifested through the day-to-day grind, commitment and creativity of our network of excellence.”

As communities are focusing on economic stability and recovery, NeighborWorks America is working to ensure that homeownership remains in reach for the individuals and families looking for a safe and secure place to call home, despite low inventory and rising prices. NeighborWorks is not only working to reduce the obstacles that keep people owning and maintaining their homes; we also continue to explore new models to increase access to affordable housing. NeighborWorks and its network organizations continue to invest in families and empowering communities, Following are some examples of our impact:

• Community revitalization
  • In FY21: repaired over 79,000 homes in addition to completing over 7,000 more substantial rehabilitation projects for homeowners.
• Grants
  • In FY21: Provided more than $78 million in annual grants to the NeighborWorks network
• Supported small business/entrepreneurs
  • In FY21: provided a range of support to small businesses in their communities, including emergency cash assistance, coaching and training, and other support. Provided over $26.7 million in total cash assistance directly to small businesses.
• Provided 470,700 total housing and counseling services in (FY21).
• Created 22,000 new homeowners (FY21).
• Own and/or manage 195,700 rental homes.
• Community leaders/resident
  • In FY21: trained 4,626 resident leaders. Held a Community Leadership Institute (CLI) for 580 resident leaders from over 62 organizations.

During NeighborWorks Week, you will find events in communities all over the nation that highlight how network organizations are helping to empower communities to succeed. Follow NeighborWorks America on social media (#NWweek and #empoweringcommunitiesforsuccess) and visit NeighborWorks.org to learn more about NeighborWorks Week events.

Here are a few events happening during NeighborWorks Week:

• Wayfinders’ (Springfield, Massachusetts) Homeownership staff will present a two-part virtual series on down payment assistance programs available locally and feature information about fair housing.
• Lakota Funds (Kyle, South Dakota), the first Native American CDFI in the country and one of eight new organizations welcomed during last year’s NeighborWorks Week, is working closely with Lakota Federal Credit Union to help at least 10 tenants at Eagle Nest Housing become homeowners. Eagle Nest Housing is comprised of 30 formerly Low-Income Tax Credit financed, single-family rental homes that in 2016 were released from LITC restrictions and made available to purchase by the families occupying them.
• Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI)’s newest property will kick off a “Credit Building Program” to help residents understand credit.

About NeighborWorks America 
For more than 40 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a national, nonpartisan nonprofit known as NeighborWorks America, has strived to make every community a place of opportunity. Our network of excellence includes nearly 250 members in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. NeighborWorks America offers grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools, and access to training as the nation’s leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations provide residents in their communities with affordable homes, owned and rented; financial counseling and coaching; community building through resident engagement; and collaboration in the areas of health, employment, and education.

Contact:
NeighborWorks America Media
202-760-4097