Thursday, July 9, 2009

At Risk Teens Impacted by Community Building

KLS.com in Salt Lake City, Utah, recently reported on a NeighborWorks Salt Lake program called YouthWorks that offers teens at risk a paycheck, a chance to grow personally, and help improve their neighborhood. YouthWorks follows a gang intervention model that creates opportunities and builds stronger neighborhoods.

The KLS.com report focused on a work crew of 10 teens that are putting the finishing touches on a home that was deteriorating and vacant. The young men in YouthWorks had gutted it and rebuilt it, to put it on the market.

HUD Honors NeighborWorks Great Falls Executive Director Sheila Rice

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently presented NeighborWorks Great Falls Executive Director Sheila Rice with an award recognizing her accomplishments in foreclosure prevention and strengthening homeownership programs. HUD's Lyle Konkol presented the award to Rice, and said she was a "dynamic leader at the helm" of NeighborWorks Great Falls.

NeighborWorks America Chief Operating Officer Eileen Fitzgerald has said this about Sheila: “She is a true champion of the brand, 'NeighborWorks.' She is always looking for ways to raise the visibility of the brand. She has been instrumental in leading the way to get NeighborWorks organizations to think about new ways to approach service delivery. Where some folks might see a problem or a challenge, Sheila thinks creatively about how to achieve impact and develops strategic solutions that turn a challenge into an opportunity."