NeighborWorks Organization Seeks to Help Seniors in Contest from Tom’s of Maine

In what is increasingly becoming commonplace for community-based nonprofits, Neighborhood Housing Services of Boise, a member of the NeighborWorks network, is competing for a “favorite” grant from a socially responsible for-profit company – Tom’s of Maine.

The NHS of Boise is competing for part of $150,000 from the environmentally conscious company, which is an independent but wholly-owned part of the global Colgate family of companies. NHS is hoping to use the grant that it could receive from Tom’s 50 States for Good competition to finance its Rake Up Boise campaign, an initiative that involves coordinating more than 6,000 volunteers to rake and winterize the yards of more than six hundred senior citizens and/or disabled people.

Tom’s of Maine is just one of a number of for-profit companies and their foundations that are combining “favorite” voting and grant making. For example, The Home Depot Foundation is currently engaged in an “Aprons in Action” campaign where consumers are asked to vote for their favorite Team Depot Project. A search around the Internet turned up “favorite” fund raising programs from Pepsi, Subaru Discovery Channel’s Planet Green and more.

With financial and in-kind support for community-based nonprofits not expected to grow this year or next, fund raising approaches that engage an organization’s friends and its friend’s friends, is one way nonprofits are working to attract new volunteers and financial resources.

Meanwhile, if you care about helping seniors take care of their homes cast a vote for NHS of Boise. Voting ends September 13.

NeighborWorks America Kicks Off NeighborWorks Training Institute in Atlanta



Pictured above: An attendee at a past
NeighborWorks Training Institute
 captivates the audience with her
thought-provoking question. 



Today, NeighborWorks America kicked off what is expected to be the second largest NeighborWorks Training Institute (NTI) in the NeighborWorks history! More than 2,000 community development practitioners are expected to attend this week’s Training Institute in Atlanta, August 8-12, 2011.

During the Atlanta NTI, attendees will participate in over 100 training and certification sessions offered – from foreclosure intervention counseling and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) counseling to an introduction to Factory Built Housing and Green Building Science. 

In addition to the training courses offered, the NTI will feature a day-long symposium on August 10 focused on “Ensuring Safe, Healthy Homes and Communities for Seniors.” It will bring together thought leaders and industry experts to introduce and explore real-world strategies for creating healthy, vital communities that include seniors as a growing and important segment of our population.  The Symposium is made possible with generous support from The Atlantic Philanthropies.

As people get older and live longer, affordable housing providers need to consider what services they should provide — including transportation, healthcare, safety precautions, home maintenance and social and financial services — that will better serve the seniors in their communities.

Topics that will be covered during the Symposium include:

• Successful programs that make homes for seniors safer, more affordable and an asset to the surrounding community
• Partnering with health and social service providers to ensure seniors are receiving the care they need to continue to be active, productive members of your community
• Design and benefits of multi-generational communities
• Resources for effective home rehabilitation, retrofitting and weatherization

To follow the Symposium discussion on Twitter, search for the Twitter hashtag #seniorhousing to view panelist and attendee comments throughout the day. 

For more information about the Atlanta NTI, please visit www.nw.org/training, or contact Erin Angell Collins, 202-220-6317, eangell@nw.org. 

The next NeighborWorks Training Institute will be held December 12-16, 2011, in Washington, D.C. 

NeighborWorks Lending Efforts Get a Boost from Over $16 Million in CDFI Funds

Efforts to increase access to affordable lending products got a boost recently when 19 members of the NeighborWorks network received over $16.9 million as part of grants made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution program. Combined with grants from NeighborWorks America, local governments, foundations and the private sector, these small- and medium-sized nonprofit businesses continue to lend in their local communities, and provide access to affordable loan products and services to low- and moderate-income borrowers.

“CDFI funds play a critical role in the NeighborWorks network’s efforts to create strong communities and sustainable affordable housing,” said Eileen Fitzgerald, CEO of NeighborWorks America. “They offer appropriate lending products to low and moderate income homebuyers and local businesses at a time when other financial institutions have limited products available.”

The CDFI funding awarded this year will enable nonprofits like Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation of Detroit Lakes, Minn., to add capital to its first- and second-affordable mortgage loan pool, which will help low-income households purchase affordable single-family homes. CDFI funds will also enable the National Council on Agricultural Life and Labor Research Fund in Dover, Del., to increase lending in five distressed counties in its service area. And finally, CDFI funding will enable the Honolulu HomeOwnership Center to make down payment assistance loans and capitalize a loan loss guarantee fund.

In addition to the 19 grant recipients in this latest round of financing, there are 73 other NeighborWorks organizations with certified CDFI operations. NeighborWorks organizations use these recent CDFI grants and prior grants to increase access to credit in a variety of ways, including:

• Provide down payment assistance to qualified first-time homebuyers who have successfully completed homeownership education classes
• Provide capital to support the construction and project management of affordable homes for sale
• Provide capital to support business loan products

For more information about NeighborWorks organizations with certified CDFI operations, please visit www.nw.org or contact Erin Angell Collins, 202-220-6317, eangell@nw.org.

NeighborWorks Awards $34.9M in Affordable Housing Grants

NeighborWorks America announced that it awarded $34.9 million in grants to 115 local NeighborWorks organizations to finance the rehabilitation of affordable housing nationwide, including smaller and rural communities with affordable housing needs, and create more than 1,000 jobs.

The Capital Funding for the Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing (CFRAH) grants enable local small- and medium-size nonprofit businesses to develop, or continue to fund:

• Revolving loan funds for rehabilitation lending for owner-occupied property;


• Rehab of residential rental housing currently owned by local NeighborWorks organizations;


• Rehab of residential rental housing that is newly acquired or will be acquired by local NeighborWorks organizations;


• Rehab of single family homes that will be acquired or have been recently acquired by local NeighborWorks organizations and will be sold to homeowners.

In addition to enabling nonprofit small businesses to acquire and rehab properties, the $35 million in grant funding will also jump start local economies through the creation of more than 1,000 jobs, and produce in excess of $300 million in economic activity.

"We thank Congress for their ongoing support of nonprofit small businesses that address affordable housing needs and create jobs in our nation's communities. Through the grants announced today, thousands of rental and owner-occupied homes will be rehabilitated - many using energy efficient and green construction - which will create healthier homes for families and strengthen communities," said Eileen Fitzgerald, CEO of NeighborWorks America.

For more information about the CFRAH grants, visit www.nw.org/cfrah or the NeighborWorks newsroom.

Hard Fought for Green Affordable Home Project Underway in Woodstock, New York

Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO), a NeighborWorks affiliate, recently broke ground in Woodstock, New York, on one of the first LEED certified affordable housing projects in Upstate New York. The $16-million new development will feature nature trails available to both residents and visitors and is the first known geothermal design for affordable housing in the state, outside of New York City, according to RUPCO.

The geothermal design means that Woodstock Commons will be completely independent of fossil fuels for its heating, cooling and domestic hot water production, according to RUPCO officials. The organization is also working with New York Energy Star for Homes on a variety of Energy Star and related energy efficient products and services. RUPCO reports that the design will produce long-term maintenance and operating savings for the organization and utility cost savings for the seniors, working families and artists who will live in the 53-unit complex.

RUPCO Executive Director Kevin O'Connor said he and his team were happy that the a "grueling" eight-year development and approval process is over and that they will be able to start the site work. "Right now we just want to turn the page and move forward," said O'Connor. "This project has been so long delayed that once we had all permits in place, we wanted to get started and not lose a single day in the construction season."

Woodstock Commons will include eight two-story, walk-up buildings with 32 townhouse-style family apartments, three additional buildings with 20 senior units and a community building with a two-bedroom superintendent's apartment. Twelve units also have been set aside for artists at the site.

"We really look forward to building something that all of Woodstock can be proud of," said RUPCO Community Development Director Guy Kempe. "Four or five years from now, we expect the homes and the people living there will be an integral and welcomed part of the fabric of Woodstock."

According to RUPCO officials, as many as 60 jobs will be created during the construction and as many as 25 permanent jobs will be created locally to maintain the property and serve the residents who live there. The residential homes will be affordable to households earning up to 30 percent, 50 percent and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) and will include a mix of one, two and three bedroom units.

Learn more:

RUPCO's press release
Woodstock Commons project