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.

Building and creating homes. That’s the foundation of the mission of NeighborWorks America and its network of excellence. And when we build homes, we also build America. 

“The NeighborWorks network continues to be one of the top builders of affordable rental and for-sale homes,” says Michael Butchko, vice president of Business Intelligence at NeighborWorks. “They are a critical part of this country’s infrastructure.” 

The classroom at the Renaissance Community Loan Fund (RCLF) in Gulfport, Mississippi, is usually used for financial advising classes for families and individuals preparing to purchase a home. On Wednesday, it was also a place of celebration as NeighborWorks America welcomed RCLF as its newest affiliate.