NeighborWorks Names Marietta Rodriguez National Director of Homeownership Programs

For Immediate Release

October 10, 2006
Contact: Douglas Robinson, (202) 220-2360, drobinson@nw.org

NeighborWorks® America Names Marietta Rodriguez
National Director of Home Ownership Programs

(New York) – NeighborWorks America today named Marietta Rodriguez national director of home ownership programs, a new position. Rodriguez had been interim-director of the Campaign for Home Ownership since December 2005. She reports to Nelson Merced, Director of National Initiatives and Applied Research. As national director, Rodriguez has direct management responsibility for the NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership, the NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions, and several emerging national homeownership programs.

The NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership, launched in 1993, is one of the NeighborWorks America signature initiatives and has resulted in more than $10 billion of home loans and nearly 100,000 persons assisted to become homeowners. More than 91 percent of the homeowners helped by the Campaign were first-time homebuyers, and 90 percent of the families served by the program had low- or moderate-incomes.

The NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions is at the forefront of efforts to stem a rising tide of foreclosure across the country. It was formed in 2005 and has the financial and technical support of many of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, investors and insurance companies. Its partnership with the Home Ownership Preservation Foundation began in April 2005 and supports a national toll free foreclosure help line (888-995-HOPE) that has provided guidance to thousands of homeowners in financial trouble.

"Marietta is the right person to lead this combined effort to put more families into homes that sets a foundations for personal growth, community building and wealth accumulation,” said Merced.

Prior to being named interim director of the Campaign for Home Ownership, Rodriguez held a series of increasingly responsible positions with NeighborWorks, including manager of the corporation’s Full Cycle Lending program. Before joining NeighborWorks America in 1998, Rodriguez was director of training and community outreach for the Neighborhood Housing Services of Santa Fe (New Mexico).

Rodriguez has a B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL.

About NeighborWorks® America
NeighborWorks America provides financial support, technical assistance and training for communities across the nation, including the NeighborWorks network – a nationwide network of more than 240 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities across America. These organizations engage in revitalization strategies that strengthen communities and transform lives. In the last five years alone, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $10 billion in reinvestment and helped more than 780,000 families of modest means purchase or improve their homes or secure safe, decent rental or mutual housing.