Fitchburg Resident Receives National Recognition for Volunteer Work
Felix Colon — Photo by Ed Collier
NewVue Communities is proud to announce that Fitchburg resident Felix Colon has received national recognition for his volunteer work providing food and showers for the unhoused.
A community activist who received training through NewVue’s community organizing leadership program, Colon has been recognized with the prestigious Dorothy Richardson Award for Resident Leadership from NeighborWorks America. Just four community leaders from throughout the country are being honored for strengthening their communities, bringing people together and uplifting their neighbors.
“I am inspired by the people who know their communities best, the people who live there,” said NeighborWorks America President & CEO Marietta Rodriguez. “This year’s honorees demonstrate what is possible when residents step forward to lead, bring people together, and turn ideas into action that strengthen their communities. Their leadership will have an impact for years to come.”
Colon, 55, founded Meek and Humble Ministries, which cooks and delivers approximately 80 hot meals three times per week to individuals and families in need. He stepped in as a volunteer resident leader in 2020, taking over outreach efforts for another local organization whose director was at high risk from the pandemic, then started his own ministry to keep feeding unhoused neighbors. He has since partnered with area nonprofits, including NewVue, and with a local restaurant and church that lends their kitchens.
“He goes to where they are, instead of waiting for them to come to him,” said Francisco Ramos, NewVue’s Director of Community Organizing. “Felix has been very clear in his mind and his heart that his mission is to humanize unhoused individuals and families within our society and has been committed to that goal for years.”
Felix Colon preparing meals. Photo by Ed Collier
A former addict and gang member who turned his life around after a troubled youth, Colon said he is not necessarily proud of his recognition but content.
“I’m content in knowing for a fact that what I’m doing is making a difference,’’ he said. “It makes me feel like I’m living with a purpose. I’m bringing all I got all the time and people feel that.’’
Congratulations to the four recipients:
Felix Colon of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, nominated by NewVue Communities;
Carmelita Wood of Charlottesville, Virginia, nominated by Piedmont Housing Alliance;
Olivia Gomez of Planada, California, nominated by Self-Help Enterprises; and
Margaret J. Wright of Des Moines, Iowa, nominated by Neighborhood Finance Corporation.
The awards are named for Dorothy Mae Richardson, who, in the 1960s, fought disinvestment in her Pittsburgh community by bringing neighbors, bankers and government officials together to find a path to rehabilitating and repairing homes, saving a neighborhood from neglect. The effort resulted in Neighborhood Housing Services of Pittsburgh, a new model for reinvestment that became the cornerstone for NeighborWorks America, a congressionally chartered nonprofit that expanded the model across the country.
As part of America250, the bipartisan initiative commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, NeighborWorks is showcasing the stories of the residents and neighbors who have built the country’s communities from the ground up.
About NeighborWorks America:
For nearly 50 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a Congressionally chartered national nonprofit known as NeighborWorks® America, has strived to make every community safer and more prosperous. Our network of excellence includes nearly 250 nonprofits in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and on Native lands. NeighborWorks offers grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools and access to best-in-class training as the nation’s leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations build homes and apartments, expanding the supply of affordable housing in every community; provide financial counseling and coaching that increases self-sufficiency; encourage resident leadership, and collaborate with local stakeholders in the areas of health, economic development, employment and education. In Fiscal Year 2025, for every dollar received from Congress, NeighborWorks network and NeighborWorks America attracted an additional $74 of investment from other sources. For more information, visit https://www.neighborworks.org.
About NewVue Communities: NewVue Communities is a nonprofit community development corporation dedicated to creating strong and healthy neighborhoods where residents choose to live, work, and invest. NewVue Communities is dedicated to serving 240,000 residents of North Central Massachusetts, a region of 22 municipalities stretching from Harvard to Athol. We strategically use a five-pronged approach to strengthen communities and fuel economic and social progress through homeownership, small business development, housing development, asset management, and community organizing. For more information, visit www.newvuecommunities.org.