During the month of May, which Mental Health Awareness Month, people and organizations are encouraged to speak more openly about mental health. NeighborWorks® America had the chance to sit down with Kate de la Garza, executive director of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, for a wide-ranging conversation with a mental health focus. de la Garza has been at the helm of the organization, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, since January 2024. 

Over the course of a year, on a 15-house block behind New Kensington CDC’s Philadelphia offices, there were 15 shootings and 10 deaths. “It was a space where we’re very interactive,” said Bill McKinney, executive director of the NeighborWorks nonprofit. “It takes a toll on folks.” That means the community, of course. And it means staff members who work in and alongside that community every day.

Lori Gay has led California’s Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County, a NeighborWorks network nonprofit with a focus on revitalizing neighborhoods, for three decades now. During that time, she’s helped her community through adversities that have included the mortgage crisis, fires, earthquakes, riots and a pandemic. For the past five months, Los Angeles County has been in the spotlight again as wildfires ripped through Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. We asked Gay to share a few thoughts about leading during times like this.