"Big Mama" – this is how Tanya Westmoreland is known in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Kids in the community stop and tell her about their day. They stand a little straighter when she's around and they want her to be proud. She is proud – of the kids and of the community she's called home for 24 years.  

Since 2017, with generous support from the Kresge Foundation, NeighborWorks America has strategically invested in creative community development within its network of nearly 250 nonprofits. 

For Adeshia Session, it starts with a phone call. But it's more than that, says the community health worker at Beyond Housing in St. Louis, Missouri. "It's about making a connection." Session, who has been in her post for three years, reaches out to residents with Type 2 diabetes. The clients she gets are often referrals from a local, partnering hospital. "In that first phone call, I explain what I do. And how our program can help." From that phone call, a relationship is born.

Culture and arts are often considered luxuries for the people that Better Family Life helps and empowers, says DeBorah Ahmed, co-founder and vice president of Cultural Arts at the NeighborWorks network organization. They shouldn't be.

Diosselyn Tot-Velasquez, an associate relationship manager in the Midwest Region, was named one of four changemakers by BeGreat Together. The organization is highlighting her course on how to replicate some of her youth programming and mural painting, in a series they call DocuCourse, along with her personal story. The video will be released Sept. 18 as part of a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. 

Diosselyn Tot-Velasquez, an associate relationship manager in the Midwest Region, was named one of four changemakers by BeGreat Together. The organization is highlighting her course on how to replicate some of her youth programming and mural painting, in a series they call DocuCourse, along with her personal story. The video will be released Sept. 18 as part of a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. 

Indiana's Lacasa Inc. is holding its traditional "Master Your Money” class in a new location: The Elkhart County Jail. Previously, local bankers led the classes for inmates. But as banks became short-staffed during the pandemic, opportunities dwindled. Lacasa, a NeighborWorks network organization working to create opportunities for personal empowerment,  jumped to fill in the gap. 
 

Indiana's Lacasa Inc. is holding its traditional "Master Your Money” class in a new location: The Elkhart County Jail. Previously, local bankers led the classes for inmates. But as banks became short-staffed during the pandemic, opportunities dwindled. Lacasa, a NeighborWorks network organization working to create opportunities for personal empowerment,  jumped to fill in the gap. 
 

Maintaining a talent pool in today's nonprofit workplace has its challenges. There's what's being called "The Great Resignation," the recent trend of workers leaving their jobs over the past two years in search of better ones. Last year alone, 47.8 million workers quit their jobs, a record high. There's an increased focus on the need for diversity, equity and inclusion. And the pandemic has changed what the workplace looks like and feels like.