NeighborWorks network organizations across the country celebrated NeighborWorks Week with paint, plants, trash pickups, cards, signs, hammers, nails, food, and all of the other trappings you’d expect in a community celebration. Held each year the first full week in June, NeighborWorks Week highlights the collective impact of NeighborWorks America’s nearly 250 network nonprofits. The week, celebrated nationally since 1983, also celebrates the resiliency and strength of communities.

Victoria Barajas was stressed. "Everybody was struggling with the pandemic and with unemployment," she says. "Everything was scary." Barajas herself had been laid off from her temporary job when businesses in San Diego shut down in 2020. So, she hiked up Cowles Mountain. It was important to stay active, and being in nature soothed her.

In Des Moines, Iowa, a NeighborWorks network organization is gearing up to create a garden that will be "on the map," literally. The project, set to take place during NeighborWorks Week, started with a zoo conservation program called Plant, Grow, Fly, explains Daphne Christensen, director of communications and marketing for Community Housing Initiatives (CHI).

NeighborWorks Week, held this month during a fight for racial equity and a virus that caused neighbors to remain distant from one another, looked different than usual. But the celebration of neighborhoods and what makes them strong continued at many network organizations. Some organizations made their events virtual. Others postponed them to focus on their communities in other ways. And in some places, residents got outside to focus on the neighborhoods they call home.

As communities struggle to find balance and recover from the impacts of COVID19, high unemployment and social injustice, NeighborWorks organizations are working to balance the need for change and support equality while also keeping residents united and safe. 

Kelleigh Gamble, CEO for Neighborhood Housing Services Birmingham Inc., talks about recent days, and his expectations and hopes for the weeks ahead.

NeighborWorks Week this year looks different than usual. For many network organizations, the week dedicated to service and community celebration went virtual, as community residents remained physically distant from one another due to COVID-19. Communities turned their attentions to social justice, while at the same time, focusing on community building and community connection. Some organizations postponed activities. Others followed through with planned events. 

As communities struggle to find balance and recover from the impacts of COVID-19, high unemployment and social injustice, NeighborWorks organizations are working to balance the need for change and supporting equality while also keeping residents united and safe. 

In Minnesota, it seemed like a simple thing: Amanda Welliver wanted to send chalk to 200 new homeowners in the Twin Cities that her organization, NeighborWorks Home Partners, had helped with down payment assistance.