"Alexa?" a retired resident says to the digital assistant sitting on the table. "Tell me a joke."

Alexa, a cloud-based voice service, might respond with the one about the cat who stopped playing basketball. (Why? He threw up too many hairballs.) Or the one about how people survived before sandpaper. (They roughed it.)

Older residents living in the communities built and maintained by St. Mary Development in Dayton, Ohio, were afraid to leave home – and had been advised not to. They were concerned about public transportation. They were advised not to go to grocery stores. But they needed food. A number of organizations partnered to get it to them.
 

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.

At their core, nonprofits are set up to help people. But in times like this, the need for help can be overwhelming. Here’s how two NeighborWorks organizations are working to meet the needs of their communities and the needs of their staffs.

NeighborWorks organizations have spent the past few weeks drafting new policies and communications in the wake of the COVID-19 virus and figuring out ways to share them quickly with their staff, their community, other agencies and one another.

As we begin a new year — and a new decade — NeighborWorks America's network organizations are hard at work, doing what they do best. Some are exploring on new partnerships. Some are focusing on matching residents with new homes, with workforce training and with resources for staying sober or aging in place. Network leaders say they're finding inspiration in last year. And the lessons they've learned are serving as a roadmap for the year ahead.

This year has been full of projects for NeighborWorks America's network organizations: new homes, refurbished buildings and community gatherings, just for starters. With each project, there are new things to learn and adjustments to make. NeighborWorks spoke with representatives from across the country to learn some of their takeaways from 2019. Today, we're sharing lessons from the Southern Region and the Midwest.

This year has been full of projects for NeighborWorks America's network organizations: new homes, refurbished buildings and community gatherings, just for starters. With each project, there are new things to learn and adjustments to make. NeighborWorks spoke with representatives from across the country to learn some of their takeaways from 2019. Today, we're sharing lessons from the Southern Region and the Midwest.

It's often noted that older adults have the highest rate of homeownership. Almost 80 percent of those age 65 and older own their own home. This statistic presents a sense of stability and security for older adults, but it belies reality for many. A gentleman who regularly checks in at an affordable housing community (where I serve on the board) makes this vivid for me. While waiting for a unit to become available, this man lives in a dilapidated basement apartment with boarded up windows because it's all he can afford.

It was the first day of the kickoff of four new “learning communities” for network members organized by NeighborWorks America. The opening ice breaker asked each participant to share something that 1) he or she knows and 2) would like to learn.