In places rural and urban and with activities that ranged from beautification and barbecues, education and engagement -- that's how NeighborWorks network organizations across the country celebrated NeighborWorks Week. They celebrated with service and spotlighted the people at the center of it all: the neighbors who make up the neighborhoods. Find just a few pictures below.

Ken Simpson, facilities director for Manna, Inc. in Washington, D.C., stabs a bag of mulch with a rake and shakes it out in a line along the bushes growing outside Belgrove Condominiums. "It's about whatever technique you’re not too tired to use," he explains to staff from his own organization and

"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.  

The 40^th annual NeighborWorks Week saw 150 events across the country this year. They ranged from classes on homebuying to park cleanups to social media campaigns and more. In some towns, volunteers gathered to spruce up homes for older residents. In others, it was working on a community center or beautifying a community garden. NeighborWorks Week is held each year to bring communities together and to highlight the way NeighborWorks network organizations empower communtiies for success.

As REACH CDC celebrated its 40th anniversary, the Portland, Oregon, NeighborWorks network organization brought back its greatest hits. One of those hits was the annual repair-a-thon, a chance for neighbors to help neighbors. The organization held the event during NeighborWorks Week. Volunteers repaired six homes.

As REACH CDC celebrated its 40th anniversary, the Portland, Oregon, NeighborWorks network organization brought back its greatest hits. One of those hits was the annual repair-a-thon, a chance for neighbors to help neighbors. The organization held the event during NeighborWorks Week. Volunteers repaired six homes.

Grace Sparks liked helping her neighbors with their computers and smart phones. So when Better Housing Coalition, a NeighborWorks network organization in Richmond, Virginia, gave her a chance to formalize that relationship by becoming a "technology navigator," she jumped at it. 

Grace Sparks liked helping her neighbors with their computers and smart phones. So when Better Housing Coalition, a NeighborWorks network organization in Richmond, Virginia, gave her a chance to formalize that relationship by becoming a "technology navigator," she jumped at it.