NeighborWorks America and NeighborWorks Waco
By Katie Bowman, NeighborWorks America
For more than 40 years, NeighborWorks America has worked to expand access to affordable homes and strengthen communities across the country. Through a national network of nearly 250 nonprofit organizations, NeighborWorks America provides funding, training, technical assistance, and a framework of support that enables change where it is needed most.
One of these network organizations, NeighborWorks Waco, has served as a catalyst for stable homeownership, quality rental housing, and vibrant neighborhood engagement across Central Texas for over 30 years. NeighborWorks Waco became a chartered NeighborWorks America network member on September 29, 1995, and has been recognized as an Exemplary Organization by NeighborWorks America for more than 20 years, a distinction that underscores its consistent leadership and impact in the community.
The support NeighborWorks America provides to NeighborWorks Waco is strategic and essential. Notably, NeighborWorks America grants funding that enables NeighborWorks Waco to expand services, develop new housing, and offer educational tools individuals and families need to succeed. Over the past five years, NeighborWorks America has invested $2,628,485 in grants to NeighborWorks Waco. These resources are multiplied through Waco’s partnerships with city agencies, financial institutions, and community leaders.
Empowering families through homeownership
At the heart of NeighborWorks Waco’s mission is the belief that homeownership is a pathway to generational wealth, stability, and stronger communities. Over its history, the organization has assisted more than 3,200 families in achieving the dream of homeownership. This achievement is not simply measured in numbers; it represents thousands of lives transformed including parents providing stable homes for their children, young families building equity for the first time, and seniors finding security in their golden years.
As rising housing costs and interest rates have made homeownership more difficult, NeighborWorks Waco has stepped up to the challenge. Homebuyer education workshops, one-on-one counseling sessions, down payment assistance, and other financing opportunities put homeownership within reach. These efforts would not be possible without the funding and technical expertise NeighborWorks America provides.
Transforming lives, strengthening communities
Growing up surrounded by hardship and becoming a mother at 16, Charlie Dixon’s path to stability was replete with challenges. With school, work, a family to support and credit that needed repair, owning a home seemed to be an impossible dream. But with the guidance of NeighborWorks Waco’s counselors and support of community partners, Charlie completed the organization’s homebuyer education, paid down her debt, and eventually qualified for a mortgage. Today, Charlie and her children live in a safe, stable home of their own, a place she hopes to pass to her sons. Her story is one of resilience, but also of the critical role that partners like NeighborWorks America play in making such transformations possible.
NeighborWorks Waco’s impact goes beyond individual families. Its work strengthens the fabric of the broader community. The organization manages more than 100 rental units, invests in real estate development, and brings people together through community engagement initiatives such as the Art on Elm Avenue festival. The organization was also instrumental in creating the NeighborWorks Alliance of Texas, a statewide collaborative network of community development organizations that work together to expand and preserve housing and economic opportunities across the state.
A call to partners
NeighborWorks Waco’s success is a testament to what is possible when local leadership and commitment is strengthened by national support. NeighborWorks America’s grants and technical assistance provide the backbone, while NeighborWorks Waco’s staff, board, and volunteers bring unmatched dedication to the work on the ground. Yet the demand remains great. Rising costs continue to put safe, affordable housing out of reach for many Central Texas families. Donors and partners play an essential role in bridging this gap. Every contribution NeighborWorks Waco receives helps sustain homeownership programs, expand rental housing, and create opportunities for families who might otherwise be left behind. NeighborWorks America and NeighborWorks Waco invite you to join this mission. Together, we can ensure that more families—like Charlie’s—achieve not just the dream of homeownership, but the stability, pride, and hope that come with it.
