Solar Photo-Voltaic Works for Affordable Housing

Posted by NWA VISTA on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Originally posted on June 10, 2011 on NeighborWorks America's news blog.

By Michelle Winters

Senior Manager, Green Strategies
NeighborWorks America

Today NeighborWorks America's new CEO Eileen Fitzgerald is in San Diego to celebrate the ribbon cutting for a new solar installation on the Las Serenas apartments, owned by NeighborWorks network member Community HousingWorks. Community HousingWorks is well-known for its award winning Solaranew construction apartments built in 2007.

Read the full po...

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What is the VISTA legacy?

Posted by NWA VISTA on Friday, May 13, 2011

To kickoff AmeriCorps Week on the right foot, CNS organized a small event to gather VISTA Alums in the area. At this event, I interacted with VISTA Alums who served from 60s to present. Theme of the night revolved around sharing one’s VISTA experience. Alums who shared their stories came from diverse background and all have accomplished very interesting things. Different decades had different themes related to them. For example – VISTAs who served in 1960s and 1970s were trained to be com...


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What type of food access will make a difference?

Posted by NWA VISTA on Thursday, April 14, 2011

Recently, I came across this PolicyLink article, The Grocery Gap: Who has access to healthy food and why it matters

As a VISTA, none of the information mentioned in there is shocking since we live and serve in neighborhoods the article refers to. What was shocking in the article was the statistic it provided regarding our neighborhoods. These are neighborhoods that I know for a fact where we have many VISTAs serving in. For a nationwide food access disparity map please visit here

In the art...


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What we're worth: Quantifying a VISTA's impact

Posted by Jessica Oxley on Friday, April 1, 2011

Our country is facing some stark realities when it comes to its financial future. AmeriCorps programs, among many others could be on the chopping block.

Having read this US News and World Report article, I'm beginning to see the big picture impact if AmeriCorps were no longer operating.

My question to fellow NeighborWorks*VISTAs is: "What couldn't your organization do without you?"

For me, I know the quality of digital resources NeighborWorks America offers to its network would suffer. Then net...


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What is the bright side of blight?

Posted by NWA VISTA on Thursday, March 17, 2011

Over a month ago I came across this New York Times The Bright Side of Blight Op-Ed piece. The post in general is about neighborhood revitalization efforts but in particular talks about Philadelphia neighborhood Kensington. Just like anyone this author is a strong proponent of holistic development and therefore compares a local CDC's effort to start revitalization efforts by employing land-based strategies to a scatter-shot approach.  

Further...


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American Idealist: R. Sargaent Shriver

Posted by NWA VISTA on Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I initially came to know about the legendary Sarge Shriver in my Sociology class at Madison, WI. After learning the role he played in creating programs such as "war on poverty," VISTA, Head Start and really activating youth culture to move forward and make impact against social injustices, I was really interested in learning more about his life. Since being in college isn't really conducive to reading about inspiring and interesting people (I was buried under tons of research and regression...


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Justice Talking - The History Teacher

Posted by NWA VISTA on Friday, January 14, 2011

Back in October I had an opportunity to attend a Justice Talking training. Justice talking is an exercise designed to invite reflection about civically engaged activity. The rationale behind this exercise is that civically engaged people (can be anyone VISTAs, your co-workers, volunteers, etc.) want to think more deeply and to talk more comfortably with colleagues about the beliefs and opinions that inform their activity. Moreover, this dialogue through reflection will help strengthen the ...


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“… ultimately it’s the regenerative capacity of a city’s residents that makes the difference”

Posted by NWA VISTA on Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Annie Rosen, NeighborWorks*VISTA from NHS of Chicago, pointed out this article to me. The article talks about New Orleans’ ability to bounce back within a short time regardless of the mass exodus that took place right after the hurricane Katrina. Instead of focusing on hurricane Katrina and the reasons for mass exodus, the writer of the article sheds light on the grassroots level of community engagement that has been responsible for recent growth in New Orleans. She writes that “with the ...


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The Foreclosure Freeze

Posted by NWA VISTA on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 In : Foreclosure 

Over the past few weeks, there have been many announcements by major financial institutions of halting foreclosures in the 23 states which use a judicial process. This is in response to reports of faulty paperwork from the lenders employees. GMAC was the first to announce a freeze, followed quickly by JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America. 

Many in the media are anticipating a large scale response to the inefficiencies within the foreclosure process on the side of the servicers from both the p...


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Community development is challenging, painstaking work.


NWA VISTA The people and organizations who invest in trying to strengthen its practice know better than any stakeholder that the road is rocky. Deepening our understanding of any initiative’s strengths offers us an advantageous perspective to learn from and built upon previous work. Pondering its shortcomings can been sobering and humbling experience as well. It teaches the lesson that criticizing the mistakes of others is vastly easier than figuring out how to do this difficult work better. The purpose of this blog is to learn from innovative ideas, share experiences and move forward building stronger and healthier communities.

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