Marietta Rodriguez

Marietta Rodriguez knows what it’s like to be a new homebuyer because she was one. "I was 25 and living in a high-cost area," she says. “There was absolutely no way I could buy a home without someone holding my hand and walking me through it.” The folks holding her hand were from a NeighborWorks network organization that provided counseling and financial assistance to first-time homebuyers. Soon, Rodriguez went to work for the organization that assisted her so that she could help more people in her hometown.

On a hot August Saturday afternoon in southern Oregon, community members trickled into Phoenix High School's auditorium. Some brought their children and stopped to grab a free lunch of enchiladas and watermelon juice from Rogue Food Unites before taking their seats at a cluster of round tables. They talked as they ate, enjoying the sun that filtered through the large windows.

Philanthropy is increasingly tasked with solving complex community challenges like the need for more affordable homes, equitable access to economic opportunity and stronger mental and physical healthcare services. As these issues become more urgent, how can grantmakers help communities drive actionable change? 

NeighborWorks America's real estate convening marked the first chance that more than 160 staff from across the NeighborWorks network have had to be together in four years. In the days since, conversations started during the convening have continued and will continue throughout the year.
 

Ground breaking on changes to the Umeya Rice FactoryIn mid-May, demolition began on the Umeya Rice Cake Factory, known for making sweet Japanese rice crackers in California's Little Tokyo. The family-owned business has been a mainstay in Los Angeles – interrupted when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which placed Japanese families like the Hamano family in internment camps during World War II.

NeighborWorks America's Shared Equity Initiative offers resources and insights for community-based organizations working to implement shared equity on the ground. NeighborWorks is dedicated to a people-based, place-based and asset-based approach; no single pathway is going to work for every organization. Our resources illuminate the options that are available to every organization to be an implementer or a partner for shared equity housing. 

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