Preeya Subedi has always had an interest in public health. Next year, she plans to go to medical school to start her studies, with a goal of becoming a doctor. But between graduating from the University of Maryland and beginning medical school, she wanted a job that would remind her of the needs of the people she'll eventually help as a doctor. 

April is Financial Capability Month, a time when schools, credit unions, nonprofits – even the government – try to raise awareness about the importance of financial capability. It's also spring. And what better way to join the two than by doing some financial spring cleaning?

Jamill Martinez, director of network organizing at Lawrence CommunityWorks, Inc., a NeighborWorks organization in Lawrence, Massachusetts, has spent her recent afternoons visiting bodegas. That's where many residents in her community who rent single rooms in homes or apartments go to eat hot meals of empanadas, sub sandwiches, plantains and more. So that's where Martinez and her coworkers have gone to talk about the dangers of scams.

Maria Garciaz came to NeighborWorks Salt Lake as a volunteer. She’d been working in juvenile court as a probation officer, sometimes with gang members, and the organization asked her to offer advice on a youth program to help teens build life skills. “I fell in love with the work,” she says. When YouthWorks finally came into being, she submitted an application to head the program. That was her path to community organizing.
 

When you attend a NeighborWorks training, there's a good chance you may see Robin Gordon. She's been learning with NeighborWorks for over 15 years. She's incorporated what she's learned into her work so much, that when she shares ideas in staff meetings, her colleagues expect her to end with "I learned that at NeighborWorks training." In fact, it's become somewhat of an office slogan. 

A Puerto Rico leadership initiative, sponsored by NeighborWorks America and its partners, is helping leaders tap into larger networks of support to help them in their work managing nonprofits and supporting residents on the island.

The residents who live in Lee House, a senior apartment building owned and operated by the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County (HAPEC), take care of each other. The building, an historic Port Henry hotel in Elizabethtown, New York, converted to affordable housing, has 25 residents who make sure their neighbors make it to doctor’s appointments or to the grocery store to pick up food or an extra container of wipes.

In a video released this week, Pandemic Response: Perspectives on Housing, national leaders in housing development provided the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with an in-depth look on the way COVID-19 has affected residents – and on the effectiveness of pandemic response programs as they relate to housing. Staying housed during this time is recognized as a public health issue.

In Western Maine, Marjorie Millett is often face-to-face with clients. But not this year. When the pandemic forced many housing counselors and financial coaches like Millett to switch to Zoom, she and her organization faced the daunting challenge to continue providing their services in an online-only format.