There is a difference between holding an event in a community and allowing that community to become part of the event. 

For NeighborWorks® America, that distinction matters. 

“Food can bring us together.” For Felix Colon, this is more than just a saying; it’s an action. In North Central Massachusetts, Felix founded Meek and Humble Ministries, a nonprofit organization that cooks, delivers and serves approximately 80 hot meals three times per week to individuals and families in need. Unlike some more traditional programs, Felix loads all the meals in his truck and delivers them to people where they are. 

Olivia Gomez grew up in Planada, a small community of about 4,000 people in California’s Central Valley. Her parents picked tomatoes, peaches and figs, and she lived first in a camp for farm workers. When Self-Help Enterprises, a NeighborWorks network organization in Visalia, opened Bear Creek Housing for farm workers, she and her family moved there. Four years later, she remembers helping her parents as they built a home of their own, also through a Self-Help program.

For more than three decades, the John R. Grubb Community YMCA anchored Des Moines' Northside. It opened in 1994 in a city-owned building at 11th Street and College Avenue, and for families in King-Irving and the surrounding neighborhoods it was one of the few reliable places where children could swim, seniors could exercise, and neighbors could simply run into one another.

Vinegar Hill, the Charlottesville, Virginia, community where Carmelita Wood was born, isn’t here anymore. Once a thriving neighborhood of Black-owned homes and businesses, it was razed in the 1960s, part of an urban renewal program.

NeighborWorks® America is proud to celebrate the recipients of its annual Dorothy Richardson Award for Resident Leadership. The national award honors resident leaders who strengthen their communities and inspire their neighbors to do the same.

Why would an affordable housing developer own a community art gallery? At NHS Greater New Britain, housing and art aren't separate missions. They're complementary parts of one approach to building community. NHS New Britain President & CEO Chris Sanders explained, “NHS Gallery 66 provides us with a powerful focal point for convening and engaging. It is an important part of our mission of making a community a better place to call home.” 

Tawana Jackson didn’t set out to become a property manager. But once she started working at the front desk at Durham Housing Authority, talking with residents, answering questions, and steering them toward resources, it seemed like a natural progression. 

The disaster risk in Elkhart, Indiana, is comparatively low, according to recent risk assessments. Low for earthquakes. Low for wildfires. But that doesn’t mean disasters don’t strike, especially as cases of extreme weather becomes more frequent. 

Nonprofits have to prepare for these disasters, both big and small. This month, National Preparedness Month, is a time to think about resources and to plan for the expected – and the unexpected. 

When Britney Russell started her hair styling business in 2011, she already had a vision for where it might take her. 

“I knew that one day I wanted to own a salon where I could not only grow my own career, but also provide a space for other stylists to build theirs,” she said.