Print pageRelationship building through a NeighborWorks® network organization’s mentorship program is improving health – both physical and mental – for the students it serves, program directors report. It is changing the meals some families cook for dinner. It is changing the way kids are talking about drugs and alcohol. And it is changing outcomes.
"Big Mama" – this is how Tanya Westmoreland is known in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Kids in the community stop and tell her about their day. They stand a little straighter when she's around and they want her to be proud. She is proud – of the kids and of the community she's called home for 24 years.
From a young age, Monica Arceo Mendoza was aware of a lack of decent, affordable housing. "My family still struggles with housing insecurity today and it is an issue that is not unique to our family," she says. Her experience led her to California Coalition of Rural Housing’s (CCRH) Internship Program for Diversity in Nonprofit Housing and Community Development.
From a young age, Monica Arceo Mendoza was aware of a lack of decent, affordable housing. "My family still struggles with housing insecurity today and it is an issue that is not unique to our family," she says. Her experience led her to California Coalition of Rural Housing’s (CCRH) Internship Program for Diversity in Nonprofit Housing and Community Development.
Eric Nokes was having trouble finding a job. Plus, he was doing community service, part of a sentence in a Missouri drug court. But when he began doing community service at North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC), staff there also entered him into the Expanding Your Employability program. That put him on a path to finding work.
"Alianza" means "alliance" in Spanish and it’s the name for a group of Latinx leaders and future leaders in the NeighborWorks network who meet to discuss issues that are important to all of them. They talk about challenges, says coordinator Maria Garciaz, CEO of NeighborWorks Salt Lake. And they talk about solutions.
Ariel Locke, a school administrative assistant, was ready for a change. That prompted her to pursue certification in engineering technology through MiraCosta College. A $1,000 scholarship from Community HousingWorks (CHW) is helping pay her way.
Mahia Rahman has her train ticket. A graduate of Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Virginia, she is headed to Harvard in August, on her 18th birthday.
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