Sharon Lee was born in New York and spent part of her formative years with her grandparents in Hong Kong when her parents divorced. Even at age 5, Lee, executive director of Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), reports being conscious of the wide wealth disparities that existed in the world. Each morning when she arrived at school, she passed men and women sitting outside the gate, asking for spare change.

Creative placemaking, or placekeeping, is essentially a resiliency tool. Normally in discussions of placemaking or placekeeping, the stress or disturbance communities face have to do with economic factors, like displacement due to shifting development, or sometimes even environmental factors. In 2020, placekeeping projects designed by organizations in the NeighborWorks cohort faced an unanticipated outlier: the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ruby Phillips was almost ready for her socially distanced appointment with the volunteers at NeighborWorks Umpqua in March, but she'd forgotten one of the documents she needed. They worked her in later that same day, she says.

"When you're late to a doctor's appointment, you usually have to reschedule," says Phillips, who lives in an apartment owned and managed by the NeighborWokrs organization. "But they got me in that day. You talk about surprised."

It's Financial Capability Month, a time to highlight the importance of financial education and financial literacy.

When she needs inspiration, Chrystel Cornelius looks to her grandmother. A member of the tribal nation of The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Mary Cornelius was the victim of assimilation, sent to boarding school to learn to be someone else's idea of "American."But after she graduated, she became a founder of the American Indian Movement, a civil rights organization.

The Tableau Fellows, a cohort chosen from among NeighborWorks America's network organizations, work to tell new stories about their nonprofits through the information they collect, with the help of mentors, using Tableau, which helps organi

For a learning cohort process supported by NeighborWorks America, community development organizations worked hand in hand with arts organizations as they re-imagined the future of their neighborhoods. What they found was often unexpected and revealed ways that the milestones found on the journey are just as important as the final destination. 

Don Gilmore, CEO of Community Housing Development Corp. (CHDC), is keeping his community green. In California, where the environment is first on a lot of people's minds, his NeighborWorks organization is putting energy into green buildings and a transportation assistance program that helps low-income individuals buy or lease "clean" cars.

Tasha Oliverson is a fighter. She stands up for what she believes in. She fights for the powerless. She works to give a platform to people who feel they have no voice. Through her activism, leadership and volunteerism, Tasha has helped to build a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community in Roseburg, Oregon, a small city located in the Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon.

College freshman Vanesa Medrano has a vision to inspire the youth in her Near Northside community in Houston, Texas. Through Millennialz Youth Fest, the community organization she founded with friends, she motivates young people to give back to the community, get involved and make their voices heard.