Stories

The Old Hill neighborhood was plagued with abandoned houses and vacant lots. Way Finders developed a comprehensive plan called the Healthy Hill Initiative to transform it into a true place of opportunity. 

The West Granite neighborhood of Manchester, NH was full of abandoned properties and even occupied properties were in serious disrepair in 2008. In addition, a neighborhood survey revealed that residents felt unsafe. The neighborhood needed reinvestment to clean up the buildings and instill a sense of neighborhood pride.

Some 80 percent of people aged 45 and older want to remain in their homes as they age, yet many of their houses were built for people who function independently. Older residents are more likely to live in homes that require substantial modifications and are less energy efficient than newer homes.

Disaster recovery has been a challenge in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Six years after Hurricane Dolly hit the valley in 2008, residents were still waiting for assistance, many of them among the poorest in the country. Their semi-rural subdivisions lacked potable water, sanitary sewage systems and adequate roads.

To foster community engagement, pride and cohesiveness through an artistic project that puts digital cameras and training in the hands of residents in a Rutland, VT neighborhood struggling with drugs, crime and poverty.

Securing an affordable home is challenging for low-income people, particularly for immigrants, who can be exploited by unscrupulous landlords. Learn how one NeighborWorks network member created a bridge and provided opportunities.

The 2008 housing crisis was devastating for Waco, Texas. As more houses went into foreclosure, residents were evicted and affordable housing and mortgage loans became difficult to find.

More than a quarter of the students fail to graduate from high school in Woonsocket, RI, both a symptom and a cause of the city's overall decline. How do we get these poorly performing students to graduate, go to college and break the cycle of poverty?

The tiny house concept, implemented to respond to homelessness in many communities, faces challenges including accessing both capital and operating financing; designing for community building and resident privacy, and overcoming land use, zoning, building and housing code barriers.

Avesta Housing needed a way to build and sustain community in its affordable housing complex. The nonprofit hit the mark by equipping its building with a rooftop garden and Healthy Living Center.