Kudos to a Grassroots Effort to Stem Impact of Foreclosures in Detroit

As residents move out of a Detroit neighborhood hard hit by foreclosures, Bill Swanson spends his days trying to persuade businesses to move into vacant commercial spaces. "Shop by shop and block by block, the head of the local business alliance is waging a grassroots fight against crime, blight and neglect." CNN Money

We can't help but applaud this kind of effort.

http://bit.ly/9GVbOH

NeighborWorks America Reaffirms Its Commitment to 'Go Green'

As the nation celebrates Earth Day 2010, NeighborWorks America reaffirms its commitment to help low- and moderate-income communities across the nation go “green” and become healthy, sustainable places for people to live and work.

The commitment begins at home with NeighborWorks America’s pledge to reduce its own carbon footprint by 10 percent by 2012, and to offer training and education on green practices to the nonprofit community development field at large.

The commitment continues throughout the NeighborWorks network, which is working hard to promote green practices in communities through green home design and construction, rehabilitation, weatherization, energy efficient rental properties, and green jobs training. NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network are fully committed to work together to create or rebuild healthy, sustainable communities across the country.

“This is an exciting time for the nonprofit community development field and its efforts to create healthy, sustainable and affordable housing,” said Thomas P. Deyo, deputy director of National Initiatives and Applied Research at NeighborWorks America. “NeighborWorks America is committed to being a leader in employing and promoting green and sustainable practices for the long-term benefit of the environment and our nation’s communities, so that all people can live, work, and play in healthy, ecologically friendly and affordable places.”

The NeighborWorks newsroom has more information, including highlights of just a few of the local NeighborWorks organizations’ green initiatives currently underway.

Learn about NeighborWorks Green Agenda at www.nw.org/green, and about Green training opportunities at http://www.nw.org/network/green/training.asp.

NeighborWorks Works with Realtors to Develop New 'Green The MLS' Toolkit for Marketing Green Homes

The National Association of Realtors^® (NAR) released in time for Earth Day a new “green” tool kit to help Realtors^® add a green initiative to their local multiple listing service (MLS). The toolkit will make it easier to market and identify green homes for homebuyers and sellers. Its development was a collaborative effort by a team of individuals, associations and organizations, including NeighborWorks America^®.

“NAR research has consistently shown that there is a considerable and growing market for green buildings. ...Earth Day on April 22 only underscores the fact that many of today’s consumers want homes and communities that are sensitive to the larger environment. The Green MLS Tool Kit allows Realtors^® to support this growing market,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder.

“By identifying which homes contain energy efficient and environmentally friendly characteristics, the Greening MLS Tool Kit will help all home buyers – especially first-time and low- and moderate income home buyers – make more informed choices about the cost of their housing and where upfront payment may lead to long-term saving,” said Ken Wade, NeighborWorks America CEO.

Other organizations participating in the collaborative effort include the Appraisal Institute; Council of Multiple Listing Services; EcoBroker International; Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.; Metropolitan Regional Information; Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service System; National Association of Home Builders; Traverse Area Association of Realtors^®; and the U.S. Green Building Council.

Learn more about the Green MLS Toolkit at http://www.greenthemls.org/. More information is also available in NAR's press release.

Make Your Volunteer Events More ‘Social’ Via Online Networks

by Tom Austin, web content development manager, NeighborWorks America

If you’re not already integrating social media into your volunteer events, now might be a good time to start. After all, it's National Volunteer Week (April 18-25), which draws attention to the huge contributions made by volunteers in communities.

Whether your neighborhood project is a fix-up, paint-up, plant-up or even a fundraising event like a 5k race – online social networks are where people are hanging out in growing numbers, and not just tech-savvy teens and 20- or 30-somethings, but older folks too.

These websites not only include popular channels like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, but also websites that match volunteers to opportunities.

What I find most promising for NeighborWorks and other local community development nonprofits is the potential to attract more people, particularly those starting their careers, to local activities that are transforming communities, and that includes engaging volunteers on service projects through social networks.

Here are a few ideas for using social media before, during, and after your volunteer events. If you’ve had some good luck using the tools mentioned below, or other social tools, please share your comments below.

Before Your Volunteer Event:

• Even if you don’t have that many Facebook followers yet, put your “Wall” to work by promoting your events, and in an inviting way that encourages comments and “thumbs-ups” from your followers.


• Some local nonprofits are beginning to create their own customized social networks on Ning that can easily be used to rally volunteers, but it does take some time to set up and engage a community in this kind of multifaceted website.


• Create a short video about your organization and event for upload to YouTube, then include the video on your website, Facebook page, or blog.


• Promote your volunteer events on a few of the many social network websites that match volunteers with volunteer opportunities. AllforGood is the result of a major collaboration between nonprofits and tech companies like Google and Craig’s List and integrates well with other websites and social media. MeetUp is another popular site to gather a group of people quickly, around affinity interests, including volunteering. Some of the other reputable websites that match volunteers with the organizations that orchestrate volunteer events are http://www.volunteermatch.org/; http://www.handsonnetwork.org/; http://www.dosomething.org/; http://www.craigslist.org/ (volunteers category); http://www.servenet.org/; http://www.volunteersolutions.org/.


• Post your event photos on websites created by your local television station. Also, be on the lookout for other online social networks that post volunteer events, such as those sponsored by civic associations, libraries, and local government community affairs offices.

During Your Volunteer Event

• Capture your event with video for posting to YouTube or photos for posting to Flickr. You can link to these from your website. Once you have the images posted, your volunteers may share them on their own social networks, attracting even more volunteers to your events.


• Encourage use of Twitter during your event. Twitter also has ways to share photos, which work well with snapping shots of volunteers from Smart Phones. You may want to even take your Twitter tweets and make a scrapbook out of them to promote future events.


• Does your organization have a blog? Consider a live blog of your volunteer event. Better yet, have one of the volunteers do a “guest blog” on their volunteer experience.


• When your volunteers register, give them the opportunity for them to share their email, so you can follow up with them by sending them links to photos, video, blog posting, or other content relevant to your event.

After Your Volunteer Event

• Show your online followers and fans who did not volunteer what they missed by posting photos and video, etc.


• Use your social network to thank those who participated in the event by sharing photos, videos, etc.
  

There are obviously lots of possibilities for nonprofit project managers willing to experiment. Which of the tools do you see working best for your organization?

Also, if you’re looking for more on trends in volunteerism, check out the upcoming symposium, hosted by NeighborWorks America in Phoenix in May at www.nw.org/volunteers.

$59.5 Million Awarded Through National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program

On April 16, NeighborWorks America announced that $59.5 million in National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program funding has been awarded to 35 state housing finance agencies, 15 HUD-approved housing counseling intermediaries, and 81 community-based NeighborWorks organizations to provide counseling to families and individuals facing the threat of foreclosure. A list of grantees is posted on www.nw.org/nfmc. More than 937,500 families in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam have received foreclosure counseling since the NFMC Program began in January 2008. It is estimated that an additional 155,000 families facing the threat of foreclosure will be directly assisted with this fourth round of funding.

The need for these funds is critical at a time when foreclosures continue to rise and the challenges of increasing unemployment rates and falling home values are not abating. Demand for these funds far exceeded the amount of funds available; eligible applicants requested over $195 million in grant funds. A cap was placed on the amount of funds any one applicant could request; without this cap, the requested amount would have been much higher.

In total, more than 1,300 nonprofit counseling agencies and local NeighborWorks organizations across the country are expected to be engaged in the NFMC Program as a result of these awards. These organizations provide invaluable, free assistance to families at risk of losing their homes, screen clients for eligibility for the Making Home Affordable programs, help clients understand the complex foreclosure process and identify possible courses of action so they can make informed decisions and take action.

More details on this announcement can be found in the NeighborWorks Newsroom.