Some years, hurricane season is marked by one or two major storms that make headlines across the country. Some years, it's marked by smaller storms that disrupt fewer lives. But every year, the Red Cross encourages residents to be prepared.

Foundation Communities' (FC) Supper Clubs in Austin, Texas, provide a host of opportunities, says Meghan Hein, community building volunteer coordinator. The dinners, cooked by volunteer groups that range from churches to businesses to book clubs, help residents in FC's affordable housing get warm, healthy meals and stretch their food budgets. With residents and volunteers dining together, there's also a chance to meet other people, talk, and build relationships with the Austin community.

During world wars, they were called "victory gardens," planted by families to help keep food on the table – and prevent food shortages. With grocery store shelves empty and families told to shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are returning to gardening and to the name.

At their core, nonprofits are set up to help people. But in times like this, the need for help can be overwhelming. Here’s how two NeighborWorks organizations are working to meet the needs of their communities and the needs of their staffs.

Every weekday morning for the past five years, you'd find Mattie Shandon in the kindergarten wing at Chestnut Grove Elementary School in Decatur, Alabama. A volunteer in the Foster Grandparent Program through Community Action Partnership of North Alabama (CAPNA), she would unpack backpacks, go over math problems and make sure her group of students knew the sound every letter of the alphabet was supposed to make.

David Snyder was sitting at his desk at New Directions Housing Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, when a series of texts from New Directions staff flashed across his phone. As he read through, the chief development officer discovered that a COVID-19 testing site had just been set up across the street from the housing corporation.  

On Friday, Chinatown CDC launched a take-out meal program to get dinners to residents in their single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels. The meals, provided by New Asia, a dim sum and community banquet restaurant located in Chinatown, allowed residents to avoid communal kitchens on their floors, a typical setup for the SRO hotels. And that helped residents maintain the physical distance suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

NeighborWorks organizations have spent the past few weeks drafting new policies and communications in the wake of the COVID-19 virus and figuring out ways to share them quickly with their staff, their community, other agencies and one another.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, NeighborWorks network organizations continue to connect with community members and to take measures to try to ensure their safety. Here's a look at what organizations are doing in Vermont and Missouri.