NeighborWorks America's 2024 Dorothy Richardson Awardee: Monica Underwood and Theresa Davis

Monica Underwood and Theresa Davis have something they want you to know about people who live in public housing. “We want to be treated like human beings,” Davis says. “We want the same things as everybody else: We want to live somewhere where we can breathe, get our repairs done, and be in a safe environment.”

“Air quality,” adds Underwood. “Air quality inside and outside, too.”

Theresa Davis near her apartment building.“And don’t forget mold issues,” says Davis, who suffers from asthma. “One of our neighbors had to be hospitalized because of mold in her apartment. Nobody wants a parent or a child or a brother or a sister to go through issues like that.”

The two women see-saw back and forth, each telling part of the story of how they have come to bring residents together in their Brooklyn neighborhoods to fight for what everyone across America deserves.