At the café in the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory, young people, ages 16 to 24, spend the summer cooking, baking and welcoming customers. Down the street and around the corner, they're helping out in a recording studio or at the shoe repair shop.

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 is the first post in our series on minority homeownership, with a focus on why taking into account the shared history and culture of your community is key to helping minorities get and keep their homes.

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" This quote is often associated with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service — the only federal holiday designed specifically to encourage Americans to volunteer in their communities.

Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most celebrated groundhog, scurried back into his tunnel Feb. 2. According to folklore, that means winter will continue for six more weeks—continuing a season that included a “bomb cyclone” that, in many areas, was the most frigid stretch of weather surrounding New Year’s in recorded history.