It's easy to see need in the inner city. Just drive down one of those streets you hear about on the news. You'll see it. Substandard housing. Crime. Neglect and blight. People struggling to make ends meet. Potential unfulfilled.

It's harder to spot need in suburbia. Hunger and homelessness can live right next door. And while the house can be well kept and clean, the family may be right on the brink. That's why NeighborWorks^® New Horizons operates 89 affordable rental units in the suburbs.

It took some convincing to get him to accept the money.

"I don't want charity." He said proudly.

He was one of our best tenants. The rent arrived on time. And anytime we asked for volunteers for landscaping and neighborhood clean-up projects he and his family were there.

The family didn't fit our demographic. The single parent families we deal with at NeighborWorks® New Horizons are usually headed by women. Here was a gentleman, raising his daughter by himself. But that never overwhelmed him. On snowy mornings, he'd get up early and clean off several of his neighbors' cars before leaving for his factory job. Filling both mother and father roles, he took his daughter to Girl Scouts and helped coach her soccer team. As she got older he sought advice from his women neighbors. He became, part of the community. His neighbors looked out for his daughter if she got home before him. He worked a factory job, 7:00am to 3:30pm, just so he could be home when she got home.