People sometimes ask Dr. Bill McKinney, executive director of New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), why he left anthropology, the field he studied in college and graduate school. His answer?  

"I didn't," he explains. "I'm an anthropologist every day. My goal was never to be an academic; my goal was to make change."  

Staff at NeighborWorks Alaska have been buoyed by the results of the organization's supportive housing effort: More than 800 people, once experiencing homelessness, are now safely housed. Jim MacKenzie, executive director of the NeighborWorks nonprofit, wants to share the organization's strategy with other housing and community development organizations.  

Staff at NeighborWorks Alaska have been buoyed by the results of the organization's supportive housing effort: More than 800 people, once experiencing homelessness, are now safely housed. Jim MacKenzie, executive director of the NeighborWorks nonprofit, wants to share the organization's strategy with other housing and community development organizations.  

America's veterans have given their service to the country, and across the nation, NeighborWorks network organizations are working to ensure they have a safe place to call home. In the last fiscal year, 145 NeighborWorks network organizations created or preserved at least one home where the client was a veteran or active duty service member. Ninety-two network organizations reported set-aside units for veterans or active duty service members in their rental portfolio in the last quarter of the year.

Nationwide, there are nearly 40,000 homeless U.S. veterans. NeighborWorks network organizations are working to reduce that number. One of those organizations is Southwest Solutions. 

Trees surround the four-story project at 16th and F Streets in Sacramento, California. On that corner, in what's known as the City of Trees, NeighborWorks network organization Mutual Housing is overseeing the construction of its first affordable, LGBTQIA+-welcoming senior housing project. The project is believed to be the first of its kind in the central valley, but leaders hope it won't be the last. 

Sharon Lee was born in New York and spent part of her formative years with her grandparents in Hong Kong when her parents divorced. Even at age 5, Lee, executive director of Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), reports being conscious of the wide wealth disparities that existed in the world. Each morning when she arrived at school, she passed men and women sitting outside the gate, asking for spare change.

Warren Dawson has lived in one of RUPCO Inc.'s apartment communities in Kingston, New York, for three years. Before that, he was homeless for some time in South Carolina, he says. He stayed in shelters and in parks. He eventually went north to New York for a funeral and decided to stay to be closer to family. That's when he entered a shelter program for veterans, qualifying through his service in the National Guard and the U.S. Army.

Ruby Phillips was almost ready for her socially distanced appointment with the volunteers at NeighborWorks Umpqua in March, but she'd forgotten one of the documents she needed. They worked her in later that same day, she says.

"When you're late to a doctor's appointment, you usually have to reschedule," says Phillips, who lives in an apartment owned and managed by the NeighborWokrs organization. "But they got me in that day. You talk about surprised."