Print pageRelease date: 12/13/2022
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NeighborWorks America awards nearly $1.7 million in grants to help communities increase access to housing, health and economic opportunities
Washington, D.C. — Today, NeighborWorks America announced that this year it has awarded nearly $1.7 million in grants to 26 NeighborWorks network organizations to incorporate a comprehensive community development approach into their work and help produce positive and transformational change for their communities. Comprehensive community development is a resident-led, place-based approach that aims to improve lives and strengthen communities. At a time of divisiveness in the U.S., comprehensive community development provides a shared framework that helps communities tailor the right solutions to their most pressing challenges, breaking down barriers like institutional silos and racial inequities and leading to stronger and more sustainable outcomes.NeighborWorks America prioritizes equity and inclusion, and comprehensive community development helps address disparate conditions among historically disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. Through these grants, NeighborWorks America is advancing comprehensive approaches in a variety of places, including urban, rural and suburban communities.
"Communities are facing challenges, such as access to affordable housing, addressing health disparities or creating economic opportunity," said Paul Singh, NeighborWorks America's vice president of Community Initiatives, "and NeighborWorks America believes the best approach to help solve them is a comprehensive one. In order to be equitable and sustainable, residents and local stakeholders need to be the ones to drive meaningful change in their neighborhoods and create vibrant local communities that offer people equitable opportunities to thrive."
Examples of projects that NeighborWorks America is supporting with these grants include:
- Implementing an entrepreneur-in-residence pilot program to help aspiring entrepreneurs and existing small business owners to scale their operations in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Helping Native businesses access financial resources to build additional community resiliency in Sisseton, South Dakota.
- Creating a parent and youth leadership council to lead the implementation of resident-driven solutions for pandemic recovery in San Francisco, California.
- Supporting low- and moderate-income homeowners with repair, rehab, weatherization and aging-in-place projects in Pensacola, Florida.
About NeighborWorks America
For more than 40 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a national, nonpartisan nonprofit known as NeighborWorks America, has strived to make every community a place of opportunity. Our network of excellence includes nearly 250 members in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. NeighborWorks America offers grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools, and access to training as the nation's leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations provide residents in their communities with affordable homes, owned and rented; financial counseling and coaching; community building through resident engagement; and collaboration in the areas of health, employment and education.
