"Every community can be a place of opportunity," shares Steve Barbier, senior relationship manager for the Western Region at NeighborWorks America. The tenet underscores NeighborWorks' decision several years ago to better understand how to be of service to Native communities.
 

There were already obstacles when it came to building homes on the Navajo Nation. Accessing water and electricity, for instance. Or the ability for would-be homeowners to find a mortgage. Native Partnership for Housing (NPH), a NeighborWorks network organization working to create a path to affordable homeownership, had an additional obstacle: Finding the right construction crew to do the job.

For 25 years, Memphis, Tennessee's United Housing, Inc., has built and renovated hundreds of homes, while helping individuals with everything from repair loans to down payment assistance.

For 25 years, Memphis, Tennessee's United Housing, Inc., has built and renovated hundreds of homes, while helping individuals with everything from repair loans to down payment assistance.

Nationwide, there are nearly 40,000 homeless U.S. veterans. NeighborWorks network organizations are working to reduce that number. One of those organizations is Southwest Solutions. 

 In the counties surrounding the Way Finders offices in Springfield, Massachusetts, the need for resident support was growing rapidly. With the spread of COVID-19 and the loss of jobs and income, more people needed rental and other assistance. The NeighborWorks network organization responded swiftly, adding new programs and hiring dozens of staff members to meet those escalating needs. How much did they scale up? 

Before the pandemic, when Junie Celestin, student loan counselor at Urban Edge, saw clients with loan debt, she was helping them get out of default. During the pandemic, with a moratorium on student loan interest and payments, the questions she's getting have changed.