NeighborWorks® America welcomed leaders from across its nearly 250-member network to Washington, D.C., last week, for its annual Executive Symposium. The gathering gave leaders – and, for the first time in person, board members – a chance to connect, to innovate, and to talk about solutions for the nation’s housing crisis.

This year, about 220 network leaders and 120 board members joined in the event. The theme was Collective Leadership: Building Strength for Today & Tomorrow!

Marcia Erickson grew up on a cattle farm in rural South Dakota where neighbors knew and took care of one another. If one neighbor fell ill or got hurt when it was time to bring in the corn, the others were ready to help. “The crops can’t wait,” Erickson said.  

When the property tax bill arrives, it is more than just a number. For some residents, that envelope signals the start of impossible choices: food or housing? Medication or mortgage? 

Nearly half of U.S. adults are interested in buying a home, according to a recent national survey from NeighborWorks® America. But 38% of Gen Zers and 32% of Millennials fear they’ll never actually own one. Still, there are people out there showing that it can be done.

Shannon Ogden, a new homeowner who identifies as Gen Z, always thought she’d own a home someday. But the mental health therapist feared it might be years before she did.

National Homeownership Month celebrates the importance of homeownership in the United States. NeighborWorks America, along with the NeighborWorks network, celebrates homeownership year round  and centers housing counseling as a way to help people decide if homeownership is right for them and, if it is, to help them down that path. 

NeighborWorks America President & CEO Marietta Rodriguez joined the Women in Housing & Finance organization for a Public Policy Lunch this week, the first week of Women’s History Month. 

Ashley Hagen and her husband raise cattle and small crops on a farm they purchased through a “contract for deed" in rural South Dakota. Their land included a small home, where they lived with their three sons. “We kept plastic on the windows and even then, you could feel the breeze,” Hagen says. “The foundation was crumbling.”