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Rental Homes

More than 90% of people in the United States rent or will rent a home at some point in their lives. Affordable rental homes are critical to the local workforce and the overall vibrancy and sustainability of our communities.

The NeighborWorks network owns and manages more than 100,000 affordable, high-quality rental homes in communities across the U.S., D.C. and Puerto Rico. Our goal is to ensure NeighborWorks network organizations, with a comprehensive approach to housing and community development, provide the best affordable homes and serve as a model to other community development and housing organizations offering affordable homes.

Asset Management

Our asset management efforts focus on a triple bottom line that meets the needs of residents and community, supports the organization and focuses on enviornmental sustainability.

To build, manage and preserve affordable rental homes, organizations must have strong asset-management capacity. 
  • A strong financial and operational foundation are necessary for organizations to handle the complex activities involved in developing and maintaining rental propertis.
  • Good asset management allows organizations to borrow and lend money, invest in new facilities and dedicate resources to resident services.
  • Strategic asset management makes it possible to earn a "triple bottom line" of profitability, environmental sustainability and positive social impact.
Key aspects of asset management include: 
  • Real estate development based on sound asset management experience, assuring that rental homes are underwritten and developed to meet the long term needs of the residents and the community as well as sustain the organization
  • Financial capacity ensuring that financial management standards and practices are supporting a healthy and viable organization that is able to borrow, invest, and operate in the community
  • Property management supporting the day to day operations that aid the asset management goals of the organization and ensure healthy, viable rental home communities. 
For 35 years we've been helping our network organizations provide quality affordable housing support to their communities. This work is built on the foundations of excellent asset managementt. You can benefit from participating in two of our programs which are open to the public.
  • Strength Matters takes asset management to the next level. Based on advanced financial analysis, and using a sophisticated data warehouse that permits industry wide performance benchmarking, this creates a platform to optimize our use of resources and maximize the portfolio performance.
  • The Consortium of Housing and Asset Management (CHAM) trains and certifies nonprot housing asset managers so they can better serve their communities and the residents of their affordable housing properties. The CHAM curriculum is the core asset management training program at the NeighborWorks America. This series of six required courses and many elective courses lead to the designation of CHAM Asset Manager.

Resident Services

Our network organizations help renters improve their lives and communities. We do this by supporting organizations and initiatives to improve resident services.

Our contributions

  • A clearly defined set of outcome measures
  • Training for resident service coordinators
  • An annual convening of resident service professionals
Bringing rental assistance to those who need it
Eden Housing in California uses funding from NeighborWorks America's Rental Resilience Fund, made possible with a significant contribution from the Wells Fargo Foundation, to help residents. 

Motivating young people to give back to the community
A college freshman, Vanesa Medrano became interested in community leadership when she helped her mother care for a neighborhood park. Now Medrano, who founded the Millenialz Youth Fest with friends, motivates young people to get involved and make their voices heard.

Our long-term goals

  • Demonstrate the effectiveness of housing-based services in building the personal assets of residents
  • Identify cost-effective ways to implement programs and services in an affordable housing environment
  • Bring together resident services and property management professionals for mutually beneficial outcomes

Resident Services Convening

We host an annual resident services convening to deepen knowledge of trends and best practices in resident service coordination. View resources below from our most recent 2022 convening. 
 

Watch session recordings

Watch "From Exhaustion to Restoration: Countering Burnout in Ourselves in Our Teams"
Passcode: c45kl2#M

While burnout among community development professionals is not new, our shared journey since 2020 has re-emphasized how quickly we can experience burnout in this challenging, stressful environment as we prioritize the safety and wellbeing of our residents. In a session led by Demarra West, together we will develop a deeper understanding of burnout and gain skills to recognize it in ourselves and our colleagues. Focusing on what we can control, we will explore our role in interrupting burnout culture, igniting our power within our workplaces and create action plans to better serve ourselves, our colleagues, and our residents.
 
Watch "Building a Framework for Student Academic Success"
Passcode: sp@6n4H9

Entering the third year of the pandemic, new studies highlight the urgent need for interventions to address the unfinished learning in reading and math for all students.  A learning cohort, Housing as a Platform for Academic Success (HPAS), offers a learning community to support NeighborWorks’ organizations with after-school programs.  Nevada HAND, a new member, will share how they used their first year of membership to build a framework for after-school programming and highlight the tools created.

Additionally, they will present effective outreach and engagement strategies to partner with property management for mission success. A founding member of HPAS will highlight the evaluation framework and data to increase outcomes and deepen the academic impact for students participating in high-quality after-school programs.
 
Watch "Leveraging FSS & Other Tools to Support Resident Wealth-Building"
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: !n7eq5xV

The Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Program is a powerful tool for increasing economic opportunity and mobility for HUD-assisted families. More than 2.2 million families living in federally subsidized housing, most of them Black and Latino households led by women, could benefit from FSS, but federal data shows that less than 3% participate.

Until recently, HUD has only provided grant funding to Public Housing Authorities for the implementation of FSS programs, but for the first time, private and nonprofit Multifamily Housing Owners can apply for funding to support the salaries and training needs for FSS Program coordinators. This session will provide an update on the HUD rules around FSS eligibility, and feature presentations and peer exchange from several practitioners who have implemented FSS programs and leveraged it, along with other asset building tools, to support resident economic mobility and wealth building.
 
Watch "Community Health Workers in Resident Services"
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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many resident services coordinators supported residents with their health and well-being. From providing PPE to digital access, to coordinating telehealth or vaccinations, resident services coordinators often acted as key health connectors to residents. In this session, you will learn more about the community health worker model, what it takes to launch this type of model, and hear from NeighborWorks network organizations who have hired or cross-trained their resident services coordinators as community health workers.
 
Watch "CORES Certification Office Hours"
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: 2CKtb#t7

This "open office hours” session is designed for organizations with some familiarity and interest in pursuing the Certified Organization for Resident Engagement & Services (CORES) Certification. This is an opportunity to engage with CORES staff and ask questions about the certification and resources available through the website. To make the most of this session, we strongly recommend attendees visit the CORES website at https://coresonline.org/ and watch the CORES 101 webinar at https://youtu.be/HnnDgmRYPy4 before attending this session.

CORES is designed for owner-operators and service organizations working in multifamily affordable properties that have a proven track record of providing quality resident services coordination that is both data driven and resident-centered. Click here to learn more about CORES eligibility requirements.

Achieving CORES Certification signals an organization's commitment to the highest standards for resident services, a deep commitment to resident health and well-being, and data-informed operations and decision making. The Certification can also unlock access to additional funding and partnership opportunities; CORES Certification is one key requirement in order to qualify for Fannie Mae™ Healthy Housing Rewards—Enhanced Resident Services™, and CORES has been included on LIHTC Qualified Allocation Plan applications in six states - Indiana, New Hampshire, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, and Virginia.

Watch "Housing as a Platform for Academic Success Office Hours for Potential Members"
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: 54Cdj&ak

The Housing as a Platform for Academic Success has fostered a learning community since 2014. The learning cohort utilizes evidenced based online academic software used by millions of students globally. The members embrace high-quality after-school program standards and share their outcomes and best practices to deepen the shared vision of “all students living in affordable housing will achieve academic proficiency at their grade level.”  Visit during office hours to inquire on how to become a member and the benefits of membership for NeighborWorks network organizations.
 
Watch "Taking Credit for Your Work: Financial Capability Data Office Hours"
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: LRQ6hz&N

Have you been taking credit for your financial capability work using NeighborWorks data reports? Did you know about the data dashboards you can use to analyze your impact? Do you wish NeighborWorks collected different data to capture the real story of your services? Come to our office hours session! The Financial Capability and Corporate Strategy and Impact (CSI) teams will showcase frequently asked questions related to Financial Capability quarterly reports, data dashboards to support your work, and an opportunity for you to change the data we collect on financial capability in the future. This session will be specific to NeighborWorks America data processes and is not recommended for non-NeighborWorks organizations.

Watch "Being Data-Driven and Resident-Centered: A Dialogue about Resident Data & Outcomes"
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: m3ge2W!L

Collecting and using data can be challenging for organizations and there's no one solution that works for all.  Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) will moderate a panel on the challenges and opportunities of using resident data to guide decision-making, and the tensions that can arise between collecting data and having equitable and resident-centered practices.  Practitioners will discuss their organization’s approach to data and how to use data strategically, while staying true to their mission and values.

Watch "Resident Satisfaction & Well-being Pilot"
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: ^8J.E4?8

For-profit owners traditionally conduct regular resident satisfaction surveys. NWOs are piloting evaluations that look beyond this paradigm to incorporate residents’ community engagement, housing stability, and overall satisfaction with where and how they live.  We strongly believe these intangibles directly impact the bottom line and pay significant dividends for developers and owners.

Fully occupied affordable rental developments with long-term, highly satisfied communities of residents decrease a broad spectrum of expenditures resulting from turnover and vacancy of units. We seek to develop win/win strategies that yield high-performance results. Being “mission-focused” can be both profitable and cost-effective.

Join a panel of NWOs piloting the Resident Satisfaction & Well-being Survey with diverse resident populations and building sites. Hear and interact with panel members on their experiences, challenges, and solutions. They will share how we use and plan to use data collected and discuss ways to make the regular data collection of resident satisfaction and well-being a common practice that yields long-term benefits for residents and developers alike.
 
Watch "Operationalizing Data Systems to Enhance Resident Outcomes"
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: wi0EJ2Z=

Data, data, data. There’s so much data to possibly collect and hard to figure out how best to operationalize data systems to ensure you are capturing and utilizing the right data to track resident outcomes. In this session you will hear from data experts and NeighborWorks network organizations on how they have developed their data systems, including their approaches to evaluation, key metrics, and data systems to utilize to help you and your organization track resident success, stability, and well-being.
 
Watch "Co-leading with Residents"

Residents are ready for more. Are you? NeighborWorks America’s Building Leaders, Building Communities (BLBC) Resident Leadership Curriculum provides a pathway to co-leadership for community residents. In the BLBC Experience, current and emerging resident leaders co-facilitate the program with a strong commitment to relationship building. In the last year, 18 network organizations have participated in BLBC with their residents and we will highlight two of their stories in this session. Come hear more about how to use BLBC and ways to activate your residents.

Watch "What’s New in Rent Reporting for Credit Building?"
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: 5=7ACBxF

Renters now have more opportunities than ever to benefit from on-time rent payments. The field has grown from one fin tech leading the space to various strategies that speak to different goals. Yardi can report on-time payments to limited bureaus, rent payment debit cards are adding rent reporting functionality, renters can elect to use their on-time payments in their scores using third party services, and Fannie and Freddie are able to use on-time payments in reviewing mortgage applications. In January, California became the first state to require nonprofit landlords to offer rent reporting for credit building to their residents.

How can you help residents and property management navigate the changing rent reporting landscape? Hear from peers with firsthand experience with California’s new rent reporting legislation and helping renters use third party services to get credit for their on-time payments. National experts in consumer credit and rent reporting program design will also tell you which rent reporting features are the most consumer friendly and which resources can help you choose the right approach for rent reporting for your organization.
 
Watch "Moving Beyond Crisis Response - Operationalizing Digital Equity Commitments"
Passcode
: 39nv#gh7

The pandemic has accelerated an already steady shift of essential services and engagement to online platforms. As a result, access to a high-speed internet connection and a fully capable device has proven to be an essential lifeline to support health, stability, and economic well-being. Given the growth of building-wide connectivity solutions, the ability to build and leverage trusted relationships between residents, onsite staff, and service partners to devise solutions, and the new funding available from the federal government, affordable housing and community development organizations are well positioned to narrow this digital divide.

This session will provide a brief update on the FCC-HUD pilot and highlight new initiatives to support greater access and adoption amongst residents including connectivity solutions, digital navigation models, and leveraging technology to support resident wellbeing.
 
Watch "Resident Services - Silos Revisited and Busted"
Passcode:  2*8Gsc!G   

While the pandemic shone a bright light on challenges with how we work across departments within our organizations, we have long wrestled with the question of how to connect resident services to property management. We know the opportunities to improve both property and resident outcomes. We have looked at protocols, communication, and cross-training, to make small improvements to a larger, more difficult problem.
As this conversation and exploration continues, given all we have now learned, perhaps the question is  larger: How do we reassess and find new connections between all the stakeholders:  owners, resident services, asset management, property management, and, most importantly, residents.