About
NeighborWorks America — legally the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, doing business as NeighborWorks America — is a congressionally chartered and funded, nonpartisan nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C. It supports a national network of community development organizations that provide affordable housing, financial counseling and coaching, training, and resident engagement in the areas of health, employment, and education.
Mission
NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives, and strengthen their communities.
What they do
NeighborWorks builds the skills, supplements the resources, and amplifies the reach of nearly 250 network organizations operating in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico:
- Grants: in fiscal year 2024, NeighborWorks America distributed more than $86.3 million in grant funding from its annual core appropriation.
- Training and leadership development: as the nation's premier trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals, it awarded more than 16,300 training certificates in FY24 through in-person and online courses.
- Technical assistance: grant, capacity-building, and peer-exchange opportunities that help network organizations strengthen operations, scale innovation, form partnerships, and improve governance.
- Organizational assessment: rigorous assessments of network organizations before acceptance and every year thereafter, plus Success Measures, a NeighborWorks social enterprise that helps nonprofits and funders measure the impact of community development efforts.
History
The first NeighborWorks organization was born in 1968, when Dorothy Richardson led her neighbors in Pittsburgh's Central North Side to fight community decay by fixing houses rather than tearing down the neighborhood. The Urban Reinvestment Task Force, led by Bill Whiteside, replicated the model, and by 1976 there were Neighborhood Housing Services organizations in 45 cities. In 1978, Congress created the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to carry on the Task Force's work, with Whiteside as its first CEO. Later milestones include launching the NeighborWorks Campaign for Homeownership in 1992, establishing the Center for Foreclosure Solutions in 2005, and administering the congressionally designated National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program from 2007, through which it has helped nearly 1.725 million homeowners.
Scale and impact
Figures NeighborWorks America reports for fiscal year 2024:
- 431,600 total individuals and families assisted with affordable housing and counseling
- 211,856 rental homes supported by network organizations
- 16,269 individuals helped to become homeowners
- More than 96,800 homes preserved or rehabilitated through construction, acquisition, or repairs
- $71 in investment generated per dollar of NeighborWorks' federal appropriation
Governance
NeighborWorks America is a congressionally chartered and funded nonpartisan nonprofit. Because of this federal charter it operates under public accountability requirements, including the Freedom of Information Act, and publishes annual reports and financial accountability information on its website. Its headquarters are at 1255 Union St. NE, Washington, DC.