What has 20 years of work in our community by a not for profit community development corporation meant?

In the case of the not for profit corporation formerly known as Umpqua Community Development Corporation, it has meant: jobs; new homes; renovated homes; clean, safe and affordable apartments; restored historic buildings; improved lives for children, veterans and the elderly; many tons of building materials saved from the land fill; inexpensive building materials available for purchase; opportunities to save for college, to purchase a home or start a business; and more than $100 million in investments in our community. The majority of funds that our community development corporation has brought into our community have been investments by private individuals and companies.

National recognition of these accomplishments has brought investments by national corporations like the National Equity Fund, Local Investment Strategies Corporation and NeighborWorks® America. As a result, NeighborWorks® America has invited, and Umpqua Community Development Corporation has accepted the honor, to become NeighborWorks® Umpqua. This distinction makes our community development corporation a nationally recognized partner in the effort to fight poverty and improve the lives of Americans.

What is NeighborWorks® Umpqua doing to celebrate twenty years of accomplishments (hundreds of apartments built and provided to low income families, dozens of homes built for families that could not otherwise afford to own homes, hundreds of families saved from foreclosure, and much more)? What else! NeighborWorks® Umpqua will celebrate two decades of work by building two homes for two low income families with children in two months!! This project is appropriately titled “Castles for Kids”.

To make these new homes affordable for the families, NeighborWorks® Umpqua is raising $60,000 from private donors to be used for materials and services in the construction of these homes. The families themselves will help build the houses. At a celebration event on June 3rd, NeighborWorks® Umpqua raised $50,000 of the funds needed! Anyone can join in on the celebration by making a contribution for Castles for Kids to NeighborWorks® Umpqua!

Our entire community has contributed to the success of the corporation formerly known as Umpqua Community Development Corporation. We all can share in the pride of the work that NeighborWorks® Umpqua will do in the future! The next twenty years will undoubtedly bring even more exciting accomplishments for our community.