Neighbor 2 Neighbor | BBB Wyoming and Northern CO

Neighbor to Neighbor was founded in 1970 with a mission to keep people in their homes, regain a strong and stable footing in their life, and achieve homeownership. In 2021 Neighbor to Neighbor helped over 4,000 households avoid eviction while helping almost 1,500 achieve homeownership. Neighbor to Neighbor is also one of the fastest growing nonprofits in the country as the COVID-19 pandemic drove both demand for the organization’s services and provided new sources of funding for Neighbor to Neighbor programs.

Character

Neighbor to Neighbor ensures that its leadership and core values are connected to the needs of their clients by drawing leadership from that group. One-third of the board of directors is typically drawn from populations served by Neighbor to Neighbor. And many of the organization’s most innovative and impactful ideas have come from these board members or its clients. This includes the organization’s home share program where senior citizens rent out a room at reduced rates in exchange for housekeeping or home care assistance. The board also makes sure to act as a sounding board for the staff rather than a simple decision maker, such as when the board took feedback from the staff which led to major changes to Neighbor to Neighbor’s pay structure and organizational chart which provided livable wages to more staff as well as additional opportunities for growth and advancement.

Culture

During COVID-19, Neighbor to Neighbor has made it a point to be as adaptable as possible when it comes to the working environment while also keeping in place key aspects that help bring the team together. When new hires have come on, which has happened a lot over the last two years, the organization tries to have onboarding occur in person even if the interviews were virtual, moving meetings outdoors if possible. Neighbor to Neighbor has also increased their emphasis on self-care as nonprofit work can be draining and has sought ways to stay connected while working remotely, such as one employee who sends monthly questions about music then compiles the responses into a playlist for the staff.

Customer

One of the biggest challenges Neighbor to Neighbor faced over the last two years was a massive increase in demand driven by the pandemic. In 2019, the organization provided approximately $250,000 in financial assistance to clients. In 2020 they provided $11 million. Despite the growth in financial assistance that Neighbor to Neighbor was tasked with providing and the additional challenges of transitioning to remote work and onboarding many new staff members, Neighbor to Neighbor was the fastest organization in the state at providing COVID-19 related relief funds to their clients. Neighbor to Neighbor is also focused on retaining donors through targeted campaigns both as they try to avoid the “post pandemic drop-off” and deal with generation shifts in the donor population.

Community

Neighbor to Neighbor relies on a network of partners to assist clients with programs and services they cannot offer. Those partners are carefully vetted to ensure they are reputable nonprofits and will provide the proper standard of service to clients. All of these are listed in Neighbor to Neighbor’s community resource packet, which is also reviewed and updated annually to ensure it is accurate. Over the last year and a half, Neighbor to Neighbor has also focused on providing better resources to underserved communities, a centerpiece of which has been making the organization more accessible to Spanish speakers through translating forms and materials and hiring Spanish-speaking staff.