Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County, Inc.: 30 Years of Serving Wisconsin

NeighborWorks America is celebrating its 35 anniversary this year. This blog is part of our 35^th Anniversary Celebration series, highlighting NeighborWorks affiliates which are celebrating milestone years marking either their membership in the network or their incorporation as an organization. This month, NHSRC is celebrating 30 years since incorporation. 

By Brittany Hutson, NeighborWorks
America Public Relations fellow

Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County, Inc. (NHSRC) is the first and oldest operating rural program in the NeighborWorks network. For 30 years, NHSRC has been a resource for home preservation, new home construction, homeownership programs and foreclosure prevention in Richland County, Wisconsin.

Executive Director Terry Testolin says new home construction is one of NHSRC’s most successful lines of business. According to Testolin, the housing stock in NHSRC’s targeted communities is “very old with a high dilapidation rate.” Since 1995, the organization has built 52 new homes, a majority of which are energy star certified.  Due to the recession, output has slowed, but NHSRC continues to build new homes. This year, NHSRC will complete construction of two homes and Testolin plans to build two more homes in 2014. “It was amazing to us when we built our 50th house,” says Testolin. “When you think of all the people you’ve helped and the economic development that comes out of that, not too many people are trying that.”

Before NHSRC repairs

NHSRC also receives rehabilitation requests that are generally for roofing repairs and window replacements. In one case, nearly two years ago, NHSRC discovered that a single family home had a number of lead hazards, in addition to general repairs. NHSRC pooled funds from NeighborWorks America, HUD's HOME Investment Partnership Program, and the City of Richland Center’s Community Development Block Grant to cover project costs. Today the project is nearly complete with minor interior work remaining . The family, which includes four children — three of whom are under the age of six — is relieved that their children can sleep and play in a safe and healthy home. They also appreciate the improved energy efficiencies the rehab provided.

As repairs near completion

By leveraging partnerships locally and nationally, NHSRC has extended their reach and services while gaining valuable support from their collaborators. As a NeighborWorks member, Testolin says, “We view our partnership with NeighborWorks as one of the strongest partnerships that there is.” From this partnership, NHSRC had the opportunity in July of 2012 to join with all five of the other NeighborWorks organizations in their state to create the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin. The mission of the alliance is to improve housing opportunities and build strong communities for all Wisconsin residents.

In addition, Testolin is a 2007 graduate of NeighborWorks’ Achieving Excellence program, an organizational investment program for executive directors in community development. Due to that experience, NHSRC was able to collaborate with the Ho-Chunk Housing and Community Development Agency, and in 2010, the organizations won the Partnership Fair Housing Award from the Wisconsin Fair Housing Network for addressing the housing needs of Native Americans.

SMHA Promotes Prosperity for Rural Communities

NeighborWorks America is celebrating its 35 anniversary this year. This blog is part of our 35^th Anniversary Celebration series, highlighting NeighborWorks affiliates which are celebrating milestone years marking either their membership in the network or their incorporation as an organization. 

By Brittany Hutson, NeighborWorks
America Public Relations fellow

Since 1969, Southern Mutual Help Association (SMHA), based in New Iberia, Louisiana, has worked to build prosperous rural communities by addressing poverty and equality issues for individuals and families whose livelihoods are dependent on the land and water. This year SMHA celebrates its fifth year as a NeighborWorks charter member.

SMHA has changed a great deal over the years. In the beginning, SMHA tackled political and local issues that threatened the quality of life for sugar cane farm workers in southern Louisiana. The organization advocated for better wages and more access to homeownership. They also established community-based programs.

In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Denise Galatas, special assistant to the president, says the organization is proud  to have been first responders, especially in isolated communities, where they helped individuals, families and business

SMHA's Assistant Executive Director/Life Quality Director, Helen Vinton, 
(right) with a fisher (left) who received assistance from SMHA
to repair his boat and stay in business

owners navigate through their recovery.

After Katrina, SMHA launched a Rural Recovery Response and raised approximately $10.5 million to rebuild communities across Louisiana. More than 1,500 individual homes, churches and businesses were aided by that effort. In response to the 2010 oil spill, SMHA raised funds to provide fishing business owners with grants and loans to help them stay in business. SMHA is currently working to create a Gulf Coast Fishers Loan Fund so shrimpers, fin fishers, oyster fishers and crabbers have access to affordable capital.

Intracoastal Seafood employees hard at work processing shrimp.
SMHA helped this Vermilion Parish seafood dock continue its
operations following storms in 2005 and 2008.

Galatas says SMHA will continue to create solutions while finding ways to remove barriers to equity. This strategy also includes working to increase knowledge and investment in rural communities. Galatas says NeighborWorks has been an excellent partner in assisting SMHA with its mission. “We have connected with strong and efficient organizations across the country that we may not have otherwise linked up with,” she says. “We have made new friends and partners because of our affiliation with NeighborWorks.”

Learn more about SMHA at www.southernmutualhelp.org.

Leadership Development and Community Building Activities Improve Communities and Help the Bottom Line

This blog entry is reposted from our Leaders for Communities website.
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By Sara Varela NeighborWorks America Community Building and Organizing communications specialist

Twin Cities Community Development Corporation in Fitchburg, MA wrote a fantastic example of how community building and organizing activities help an organization’s bottom line, and how leadership development improves a neighborhood. These are my favorite types of stories. What do you think about them? Read the examples below and leave a comment.

Examples of leadership development improving a neighborhood are reflected in these two stories:


Three residents involved with Twin Cities CDC spoke on behalf of the Elm Street Area Neighborhood Association in front of the City Council Public Works Committee. Residents LeNeia Thomas, Paysha Rhone and James Kayaba had not spoken much publicly before, but they advocated earnestly for sidewalk and road improvements in their neighborhood. They argued the improvements would enhance the safety of children and elders in the area. Prior to this action, all the three resident leaders attended either or both  the NeighborWorks Community Leadership Institute and the Community Action Training sponsored by Twin Cities CDC. Thanks to their efforts, the process for paving these streets has begun.

A second story relates to a resident-led open house and barbeque. As Twin Cities CDC finished building new homes in the Elm Street Area, the organization became concerned about selling them. The first home had been on the market for two years. The construction had created debt, other homes were adding to the organization's inventory and there was pressure to sell the homes under the rules for HUD's HOME program.

Residents decided to hold a block party to help sell the homes. They got out the grill, organized the music and that day the first home was sold to an employee of Fitchburg State University! Two of the three homes for sale were sold shortly after this event, greatly relieving financial stress on the organization and proving what the residents of the neighborhood already knew: people wanted to live in the neighborhood.

Residents were also excited about a new daycare business inside a formerly foreclosed home. They welcomed the daycare with a press conference and used this as yet another opportunity to sell a new homes. At the time Twin Cities submitted their quarterly report to NeighborWorks America, the last of the new homes had been put under agreement and another home they rehabilitated was also under agreement.

Community building activities and resident leadership development are not often looked as money makers for an organization, but these stories demonstrate that resident activities can help an organization’s bottom line!

NeighborWorks Prepares for MLK Day of Service

By Nikki Perez
NeighborWorks America VISTA leader

The NeighborWorks VISTA Program was established in 2009 to increase the capacity of local NeighborWorks organizations by adding full-time VISTA members in critical areas, such community stabilization, resident engagement and others. The program helps organizations facing increased demand caused by the foreclosure crisis and reduced resources due to the recession. The program also helps attract and retain new and diverse talent to the community development field while providing meaningful service opportunities for those who wish to support their country and their communities.

On January 21, 2013 millions of people around the nation will come together in volunteer efforts in honor of The MLK National Day of Service, making it "a day on, not a day off." In support of this national call to serve, the NeighborWorks VISTA Program has encouraged VISTA members and NeighborWorks organizations to assist their communities through acts of service. This year, some planned Martin Luther King (MLK) day activities include:

Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation 
Ventura, California

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C.
Creative Commons photo by The Uprooted Photographer

VISTA member Victor Espinosa will facilitate a community dialogue on the meaning of Martin Luther King’s words and actions. The discussion will include topics such as race, equality and social justice in Ventura County. Rather than viewing Dr. King’s legacy of racial, social, and economic justice as a historical victory, this event seeks to connect his legacy to an ongoing social justice struggle, recover critical, yet less-examined facets of King’s words, and connect them to current local social justice movements. Additional event details on the Presidential Inauguration Committee's National Day of Service website.

Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County 
Richland Center, Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Ph.D. candidate, Simon Balto will give a free civil rights talk. VISTA member Robert Johnson will provide the introduction to the lecture and include some information about the earned income tax credit. This discussion will be advertised in the community with all encouraged to attend.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven 
New Haven, Connecticut

On Saturday, VISTA members at Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven will be sanding the living room floor of a former Visiting Nurses Association nurse who due to a stroke, has physical limitations and cannot go up stairs and uses the living room for her bedroom.

On Sunday, VISTA member, Joey Rosenberg of Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven will be volunteering with the Yale Peabody Museum for their MLK Environmental and Social Justice Event. The event will help children learn about MLK Jr. and ways to save the environment through stage performances and learning booths. Many organizations in the area will have having booths and Joey will be serving at the United Community and Family Services booth.

On Monday, VISTA members at Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven are planning to volunteer with the Veterans Affair making welcoming baskets. These baskets are filled with household items for formerly homeless veterans who are moving into new apartments.

NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley 
Woonsocket, Rhode Island

This year for NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley’s MLK Day of Service event the MLK Community Service Committee are collaborating with community members to create murals dedicated to MLK’s message and the community’s cultural diversity. The murals will be painted at the Woonsocket Police Station, Woonsocket High School and the YMCA in downtown Woonsocket. There will also be a neighborhood cleanup effort on the same day. Read more about the event here.

Want to join an event? Visit the Presidential Inauguration Committee's National Day of Service website to find an event near you. 

Believing in the People We Help

 This blog entry is reposted from our Leaders for Communities website.

By Sara Varela 
NeighborWorks America
Community Building and Organizing
communications specialist

The other day I told my nine-year-old he was in charge of preparing lunch for the family, since we were all very busy and hungry. I told him to prepare tuna sandwiches, and gave him all the ingredients he needed. He was more than thrilled to take on a major responsibility like that one. He has seen his dad, his older sister and I take turns at preparing and serving meals all his life, but he seldom gets to do it. I told him to prepare the sandwiches, serve them, set the table and call us when lunch was ready. He did a fantastic job; yes, the sandwiches weren’t as perfect as they’d been if I had done them, but my son accomplished the main goal of feeding us himself.

Trusting others to perform important tasks themselves is a critical part of helping them grow, and this concept is highly applicable in the nonprofit world.

Compost Cadet at work

My employer, NeighborWorks America, is a grant-maker which means we rely on our grantees to use our funds responsibly on projects that help the community directly and also inspire residents to help themselves.  Recently, I saw pictures from a NeighborWorks project with affiliate Chinatown Community Development Center (Chinatown CDC) in San Francisco. The photos give a visual example of how Chinatown CDC has used a $10,000 Deep Green Community Building and Organizing (CB&O) Impact grant to empower resident leaders and youth to educate the community on waste reduction through proper composting and recycling.

One of Chinatown CDC's main goals was to focus on leadership and ownership by residents for a more sustainable green community. The approach Chinatown CDC took creating this ownership and leadership among residents was comprehensive and ultimately quite successful. Some activities supported by the grant were:

• Lunch Program: Twenty-four youth volunteers educated other youth (and even some parents) to properly sort items into compost, recycling, and trash bins. The 12 volunteers alternated shifts each day, making sure that there were three people teaching the kids at all times. By the end of summer, the volunteers were just a presence because the kids were automatically doing it correctly.

• Arts & Crafts: Led by a resident volunteer, a group of five youth made wind chimes entirely from recycled items and learned about the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling.

• Compost Cadets: Eleven youth eagerly volunteered to be Compost Cadets (or Compost Cops, as they called themselves). These young leaders were trained to monitor residents at community events to make sure they were properly sorting their garbage. The Compost Cadets created their own badges and ticket booklets. They rewarded good behavior with environmentally-friendly stickers and they educated people they caught throwing food items or recyclables into the wrong bins.

Compost Cadet at work

The pride that my son felt at being handed an important responsibility and trusting him to getting it done well is the same pride I see in the photos of the children who were given the role of Compost Cadet. As I see the pictures of these young leaders, and the pride, ownership and responsibility that is reflected in them, I realized they embody what CB&O is all about: providing opportunities for skill building, giving residents leadership roles they might not have considered before and ultimately supporting resident-led improvements in their own communities.

There is nothing worse than setting up the stage for leadership development, and then not allowing space, or not trusting the people to take charge. Had I told my son he was responsible for lunch, and then taken over and made the sandwiches myself, or helped him because I didn’t trust he could do a good job, it wouldn’t have been the same. As practitioners I think it is important to walk our talk and really believe the people we want to help have the answers to their own problems. Our role is to enable them to find those answers, and then trust that their decisions were the best ones.