Coley Stetler and her sister, Megan Snow, had talked for years about opening a learning center. When Stetler moved back to Maine to be closer to family, they enrolled in the Child Care Learning Lab through Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI).

Kristina Aguilar's expertise was working on interior walls. DeJeaun Biggle liked the heavy lifting and tarring the foundation. But painting trim? "Tedious," he says. The neighbors worked together  to build their homes – and each other's – as a part of NeighborWorks Great Falls' Owner-Built Homes Program, which began in 2005  through USDA's Mutual Self-Help Program.

Kristina Aguilar's expertise was working on interior walls. DeJeaun Biggle liked the heavy lifting and tarring the foundation. But painting trim? "Tedious," he says. The neighbors worked together  to build their homes – and each other's – as a part of NeighborWorks Great Falls' Owner-Built Homes Program, which began in 2005  through USDA's Mutual Self-Help Program.

 In January 2021, NeighborWorks America started its Stop Home Scams initiative to raise awareness about housing scams, which often become more prevalent during times of economic hardship. Focusing on regions with high foreclosure rates, NeighborWorks America engaged network organizations to help spread the word. With the ending of pandemic evictions and foreclosure moratoria, network leaders continue to be concerned about a rise in scams. 

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.

The Navajo Nation encompasses 27,000 miles in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. On the reservation, steeped in history and customs, there are also challenges when it comes to housing, to supplies and lumber, to hookups to clean running water. Add in a national pandemic and the challenges grow exponentially. So does determination to meet them.