NeighborWorks America is a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization. In the FY 2010 budget passed by Congress, NeighborWorks received $233 million.
The roots of NeighborWorks go back to a resident-led, 1968 campaign for better housing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Central North Side neighborhood. In 1970, the Federal Home Loan Bank decided to begin replicating the Pittsburgh model. By 1975, 45 cities had "Neighborhood Housing Services" (NHS) offices. In 1978, Congress institutionalized the NHS network by establishing the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, which became NeighborWorks in 2005.
NeighborWorks seeks to create and preserve affordable housing, foster the expansion of networks of practitioners, train and develop a nonprofit workforce, increase capital investment in American communities, and educate homeowners. Recently, NeighborWorks has assisted troubled homeowners facing foreclosure, administering a $360 million foreclosure mitigation-counseling program.
Additionally, NeighborWorks has recently begun making grants for green building projects and green jobs promotion. A list of NeighborWorks' national programs is available on their website.
In 2008, NeighborWorks made $66.6 million in capital grants and $2 million in training grants to network organizations. Also in 2008, NeighborWorks' network organizations generated $3.7 billion in public and private investments. During the same time period, NeighborWorks awarded over 18,000 training certificates to community development professionals.
NeighborWorks offers networking opportunities and support for 235 member Neighborhood Housing Service organizations; many of these are also community development corporations. Additionally, members of NeighborWorks may benefit from grants, technical assistance, training and other resources. Membership information is available here: www.nw.org/network/aboutUs/member/default.asp
Links:
- The NeighborWorks America homepage is available here:
www.nw.org - NeighborWorks provides a website dedicated to resources for potential homebuyers, located at:
www.keystomyhome.org - Stablecommunities.org provides news and research for nonprofit practitioners in the area of foreclosure.