In Aberdeen, Washington, NeighborWorks of Grays Harbor County is located 100 miles from Seattle, where several wild and scenic rivers converge into the bay and flow into the Pacific Ocean. Despite being the closest port to Asia, this rural community also is an economically depressed area, with an aging housing stock mostly dependent on electric heating.

 
Seventy-two hours prior to the arrival of Hurricane Irma — then a Category 4 storm that had carved a destructive path through numerous Caribbean islands — staff members at Rural Neighborhoods Inc. (RNI) worked to shutter nearly 1,000 rental homes on Florida's west and east coasts and urged residents to evacuate.


 

Julie Bornstein, Executive Director, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition

Colin Kelley, CEO, NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania

Challenge: To revitalize two struggling Pittsburgh neighborhoods by investing in people and leadership within those communities.

Colin Kelley, Chief Executive Officer, NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania

Challenge: To expand the scope and geographical reach of housing services through partnerships with community development agencies across western Pennsylvania.

Noel S. Halvorsen, Executive Director, NeighborWorks Green Bay

Challenge: When a big regional bank moved one of its departments to another site, it left a sprawling office building in downtown Green Bay, WI. Meanwhile, two leading nonprofits needed new offices, either because their leases were expiring or their locations were no longer adequate.

Rosemary M. Heard, President and CEO, CATCH Neighborhood Housing

Stuart J. Mitchell, President and CEO, PathStone Corporation

Challenge: To rebuild deteriorating housing and employment opportunities in Puerto Rico's Route 123 Heritage Area, amid a crumbling infrastructure and shrinking tax base that have crippled the ability of local governments to meet needs.