The Neighborhood Risk Management Corporation (NRMC) is now offering risk management training for site management and maintenance staff as well as staff responsible for risk management and insurance. NRMC, collaborating with NeighborWorks, is presenting the first district-based training on July 16 in Cincinnati for organizations in the NeighborWorks Great Lakes district, as well as other not-for-profit groups in the area. NRMC and NeighborWorks America plan to present this training in all districts over the next two years. For more information, please send an e-mail to Harold Nassau.

Centro Campesino Farmworker Center Executive Director Steven Mainster has received the prestigious Essie Silva Community Builder Award from United Way of Miami-Dade. The award, presented to him at the United Way Annual Volunteer Awards luncheon on June 18, honors individuals in the community dedicated to building bridges between people so that they can come together in a common goal despite their differences. Mainster also founded the farmworker center, which is a member of the NeighborWorks Rural Initiative. He exemplifies volunteerism and a commitment to bringing hope, promise and opportunity into the lives of others. Click here to learn more.

Community Housing Partners of Christiansburg, Virginia, recently received two state honors for environmental leadership and sustainable building. In April, the organization’s Community Design Studio accepted one of seven 2007 Go Green awards from the James River Green Building Council for their work on the Roanoke-Lee Street duplex project. In May, the Virginia Conservation Network presented CHP President and CEO Janaka Casper and Architect Colin Arnold with a 2007 Conservation Award for Nonprofit Leadership in Green Building and Sustainability. Click here to learn more.

Self Help Enterprises of Visalia, California; Manna of Washington, D.C.; and the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises in Berea, Kentucky have each been formally recognized by the Calvert Foundation as leaders in the affordable housing fight against predatory lending and mortgage foreclosures. These three NeighborWorks organizations were among five community-based organizations honored by the foundation. A national press call was held on June 26 and the organizations are featured on the foundation’s Web site.

Individuals and organizations promoting civic engagement at the community level can apply to receive grants of up to $25,000 through the Case Foundation’s new “Make It Your Own” awards program, which is accepting online applications through August 8. For more information, please visit their Web site.

All NeighborWorks organizations that secure accurate and positive media coverage lift both their own visibility and that of the entire NeighborWorks network. On June 28, Missouri’s Urban Neighborhoods Alliance Executive Director Bob Horton was quoted in the Springfield Business Journal talking about the NeighborWorks foreclosure prevention campaign. To share a successful branding story from your own organization with the Network, send the information to Alex Escudero.

Over the next five years, the Wachovia Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Opportunity Finance Network will award $42 million to exceptional community development financial institutions (CDFIs) serving persons with low-incomes. Applications for 2007 awards are due by 5 p.m. EDT August 20. Detailed information and application guidelines can be found at www.nextawards.org.