Elizabeth Alonzo-Villarreal works with a staff of eight at NeighborWorks Laredo, where she serves as CEO. But together, the staff helps about 1,000 others each year. So when the staff switched from working in a central office to working from home at the start of COVID-19, the organization utilized grants from NeighborWorks America to help things run more smoothly as they continued to provide homebuyer education, financial capability training and foreclosure prevention counseling.

Teresa Pucheta had lived alone for years, until a friend with health problems needed a place to stay. She shared her house with him until he died of cancer, she says. "Then I saw the house was kind of lonely. Another friend said: 'There's a place you can get a roommate.'" That's when Pucheta first found out about a house-sharing program at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, a NeighborWorks network organization in Baltimore, Maryland.

Americans are facing unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19. Even with some HUD-approved housing counseling agencies shuttered or operating at reduced capacity, counselors can still help clients stabilize their housing. Telephone and virtual counseling can be added to the agencies' service delivery model.

During this time of crisis, remote counseling supports social distancing practices. The physically impaired, immuno-suppressed, seniors, and those who either prefer not to or cannot commute have much to gain.

NeighborWorks network organizations say they are continuing to hear from residents interested in doing the financial education and credit repair that will help them on a path to buying new homes. But even before March turned to April, housing counselors say they were also receiving calls from residents who were worried about what was going to happen if. If they lost jobs. If they couldn't pay their rent or their mortgage as the COVID-19 virus forced businesses to shut down or scale back.

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