Symphony Malveaux, community relations coordinator for Louisiana's Mid City Redevelopment Alliance, had been reading up on home scams as she prepared to bring awareness to her community through NeighborWorks America's Stop Home Scams initiative. Then she realized she'd nearly fallen victim to a scam herself. 

NeighborWorks network organizations across the country celebrated NeighborWorks Week with paint, plants, trash pickups, cards, signs, hammers, nails, food, and all of the other trappings you’d expect in a community celebration. Held each year the first full week in June, NeighborWorks Week highlights the collective impact of NeighborWorks America’s nearly 250 network nonprofits. The week, celebrated nationally since 1983, also celebrates the resiliency and strength of communities.

When people seek to improve their finances, credit is one of the top three concerns people have, believes Sarah Chenven, chief operating and strategy officer for Credit Builders Alliance (CBA).

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

Jamill Martinez, director of network organizing at Lawrence CommunityWorks, Inc., a NeighborWorks organization in Lawrence, Massachusetts, has spent her recent afternoons visiting bodegas. That's where many residents in her community who rent single rooms in homes or apartments go to eat hot meals of empanadas, sub sandwiches, plantains and more. So that's where Martinez and her coworkers have gone to talk about the dangers of scams.

The application looked official. There was letterhead. And there were catch phrases like "specialized counselors" and "hardship." But a client who was assisted by Housing Partnership for Morris County stopped just short of working with the company, which would have charged him $1,300 just to begin a loan modification process. The client sought a modification due to financial stress caused by COVID-19. 

In the wake of the historic winter storms that have left large portions of the country blanketed