NeighborWorks America Reviews Thistle Community Housing

Every three to four years Thistle has a comprehensive organizational review by  NeighborWorks America

Pictured from left to right: Dave Mowers, NeighborWorks America Sr. Assessment Manager; Gregg Masenthin, NeighborWorks America Sr. Manager, Financial Assessments; Isabel Sanchez, Mapleton Home Association Board President. Photo Credit: Vasia Ampatzi, NeighborWorks America 

NeighborWorks America is a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization that supports nearly 250 organizations like Thistle Community Housing across the United States. NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen communities through network grants, training, and technical assistance. NeighborWorks America provides a relationship manager to help Thistle navigate the ever-changing world of affordable housing and nearly $300,000 in funding for Thistle’s affordable housing programs every year.

Every three to four years, NeighborWorks America reviews and rates Thistle’s overall organizational health. The rating is used to determine the amount of funding available for Thistle during the following 3-year period. In May, representatives from NeighborWorks America’s Organizational Assessment Division (OAD), Dave Mowers and Gregg Masenthin, flew from Kansas to do a deep dive into Thistle. From budgets, properties, and management to human resources, accounting, and more, Dave and Gregg investigated all areas of Thistle.

To help Gregg and Dave get to know Thistle’s culture, a team lunch was held at Thistle’s Cannery Apartments. Partners from the City of Boulder and City of Longmont, Thistle’s human resources partner at CoAdvantage, and one of Thistle’s contracted architects from PEH Architects, joined the lunch to learn more about NeighborWorks. The lunch was a great success, especially for the Thistle team, which had an opportunity to connect with colleagues across every department and NeighborWorks America staff.

By coincidence, Gregg and Dave’s visit coincided with NeighborWorks Weeks, a special celebration held annually to recognize the amazing impact the network has on communities across the country. To mark the occasion, Thistle threw a pizza party at Mapleton Mobile Home Park—Thistle’s Community Land Trust/Resident Owned Community, a model for mobile park ownership and governance that has been a part of the Thistle family of housing for over 20 years.

The event was a huge success. With pizza, snacks and desserts flowing, the Mapleton community, Thistle staff, and NeighborWorks America representatives enjoyed a lovely evening. PNC bank generously sponsored the event and copies of the book How to Prepare for Everything in support of Mapleton’s ongoing disaster resilience investments.

Pictured above: Mapleton residents and Thistle staff enjoying the Mapleton NeighborWorks Weeks celebration party. Photo Credits: Vasia Ampatzi, NeighborWorks America 

Highlights of the organizational review include Thistle’s overall team culture, the wellbeing of our properties, financial health, our growing resident-owned community program, successful rental and community land trust programs, and low staff turnover. Gregg Masenthin noted that the organization seemed to undergo a complete transformation since CEO Paul D’Angelo CEO arrived four and half years ago.

Thistle now waits, approximately six to eight months, for NeighborWorks America to complete internal processing during which time Thistle’s overall rating is determined. We hope to earn and maintain our Exemplary Organization status, which is the highest rating.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped prepare for the NeighborWorks America visit. Gregg has come to review Thistle three times in the past seven years. “It was a real pleasure to collaborate with you and the new team at Thistle and see how the organization has been changing and evolving,” he said. “...Just so many positive changes since 2022!”

We could not be more grateful to all the amazing Thistle staff who ensure we provide safe and affordable housing every day for more than 3,000 individuals and families in Boulder County and beyond.