For NeighborWorks America's recent symposium, "Co-creating an Equitable Future at the Intersection of Health, Housing and Community Development," leaders created a series of case studies to help show how network organzitions are centering resident voice. Following is the first study, for Piedmont Housing Alliance in Charlottesville, Virginia, on centering resident voice, leadership and decision-makg in the redesign of place.

In 2020, a storm hit central Virginia that left residents without power for several days. One of Piedmont Housing's properties was without heat, and residents couldn't travel to replenish supplies or charge their phones. So when staff at the Charlottesville nonprofit, together with the community, had a chance to put in protections for residents as part of a redevelopment project, they did. The result will be seen in a new community resource center, part of a larger redevelopment of Friendship Court, recently renamed by residents as Kindlewood.

In 2020, a storm hit central Virginia that left residents without power for several days. One of Piedmont Housing's properties was without heat, and residents couldn't travel to replenish supplies or charge their phones. So when staff at the Charlottesville nonprofit, together with the community, had a chance to put in protections for residents as part of a redevelopment project, they did. The result will be seen in a new community resource center, part of a larger redevelopment of Friendship Court, recently renamed by residents as Kindlewood.

Grace Sparks liked helping her neighbors with their computers and smart phones. So when Better Housing Coalition, a NeighborWorks network organization in Richmond, Virginia, gave her a chance to formalize that relationship by becoming a "technology navigator," she jumped at it. 

Grace Sparks liked helping her neighbors with their computers and smart phones. So when Better Housing Coalition, a NeighborWorks network organization in Richmond, Virginia, gave her a chance to formalize that relationship by becoming a "technology navigator," she jumped at it. 

Mahia Rahman has her train ticket. A graduate of Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Virginia, she is headed to Harvard in August, on her 18th birthday.

The link between housing and health care has been getting national recognition over the past few years. And it's become a focus for Community Housing Partners (CHP) in Christiansburg, Virginia.

NeighborWorks America welcomed eight new affiliates to its robust network, adding both capacity and expertise. This brings the number of NeighborWorks network organizations, located in every state, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., to 247.

The application looked official. There was letterhead. And there were catch phrases like "specialized counselors" and "hardship." But a client who was assisted by Housing Partnership for Morris County stopped just short of working with the company, which would have charged him $1,300 just to begin a loan modification process. The client sought a modification due to financial stress caused by COVID-19.