Ken Simpson, facilities director for Manna, Inc. in Washington, D.C., stabs a bag of mulch with a rake and shakes it out in a line along the bushes growing outside Belgrove Condominiums. "It's about whatever technique you’re not too tired to use," he explains to staff from his own organization and

Para leer esta historia en español, vaya al final de la final de la pàgina.

Para leer esta historia en español, vaya al final de la final de la pàgina.

On a hot August Saturday afternoon in southern Oregon, community members trickled into Phoenix High School's auditorium. Some brought their children and stopped to grab a free lunch of enchiladas and watermelon juice from Rogue Food Unites before taking their seats at a cluster of round tables. They talked as they ate, enjoying the sun that filtered through the large windows.

NeighborWorks America's real estate convening marked the first chance that more than 160 staff from across the NeighborWorks network have had to be together in four years. In the days since, conversations started during the convening have continued and will continue throughout the year.
 

In mid-May, demolition began on the Umeya Rice Cake Factory, known for making sweet Japanese rice crackers in California's Little Tokyo. The family-owned business has been a mainstay in Los Angeles – interrupted when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which placed Japanese families like the Hamano family in internment camps during World War II.

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.