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? 

 It's the leafy greens and peaches that residents go for the most this time of year, shares Carly Sanders, food program director for NeighborImpact. She's talking about the fresh produce that comes from a partnership between the NeighborWorks network organization and High Desert Food and Farm Alliance (HDFFA). The HDFFA matches farmers who have extra produce with NeighborImpact's food bank. 

Last year, when The Unity Council couldn't put on the annual Dia de los Muertos festival in person because of the pandemic, the Fruitvale community felt their losses more acutely, says Itzel Diaz-Romo, interim director of development and communications for the NeighborWorks network organization.

In Aurora, too many households – 1 in 6 – have zero net-worth, says Rick Guzman, CEO of The Neighbor Project (TNP), a NeighborWorks network organization. His nonprofit formed in 2018 to do something about it, with a focus on helping low- to moderate-income individuals build financial health and wealth. Much of this takes place through the newly formed Aurora Financial Empowerment Center. Now in its second year of operation, the center has already served 672 families. 

Onboarding new staff members is a critical business process made even more challenging during a pandemic. When faced with this situation, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT), a community land trust in Brattleboro, Vermont, chose NeighborWorks America online training to provide their new hires with industry updates and resources to help them succeed. 

"Alianza" means "alliance" in Spanish and it’s the name for a group of Latinx leaders and future leaders in the NeighborWorks network who meet to discuss issues that are important to all of them. They talk about challenges, says coordinator Maria Garciaz, CEO of NeighborWorks Salt Lake. And they talk about solutions.
 

"We've been kicking the can down the road," explains Christopher Spence, a housing expert who has worked in the industry since 1992. He's referring to rent and fees some tenants are delaying paying off, due to pandemic-related hardships. Protections have kept them housed, but the rent will eventually come due.  "Just because landlords are not moving forward with eviction doesn't mean tenants don't have fees accruing," Spence says. 

As the new school year begins, education leaders are making sure their students are prepared. For some, that means assessing the students in math, reading and more. It may mean making sure they're equipped with backpacks and paper. It may mean restocking food pantries.

At REACH Community Development, a NeighborWorks network organization in Portland, Oregon, residents began the pandemic by controlling what they could. They wore masks and kept a proper social distance. They worked and when they couldn't, they filed for unemployment.