News Release

April 18, 2009

Contact: Douglas Robinson, 202-220-2360, drobinson@nw.org
Erin Angell Collins, 202-220-6317, ecollins@nw.org
Hillary Rowe, 404-295-8098, hrowe@nw.org

NeighborWorks America Joins HOPE NOW and Mary J. Blige in Wrapping up ‘Bringing Hope Home’ Campaign and Bus Tour in Atlanta
Campaign Promotes Foreclosure Prevention and Raises Awareness of Resources Available to
Homeowners in Distress

Atlanta – Today NeighborWorks® America National Homeownership Programs Director Marietta Rodriguez joined the HOPE NOW alliance for the ‘Bringing Hope Home’ foreclosure prevention campaign, with Grammy Award winning American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige, while participating in a bus tour of Atlanta, GA. The goal of the foreclosure prevention campaign is to raise awareness of the foreclosure crisis and the free resources available to homeowners in danger of foreclosure.

“We recognize that there are many families in financial distress and finding a reputable, reliable resource can be a challenge,” said Marietta Rodriguez, director of National Homeownership Programs at NeighborWorks America.  “We want to make finding help easier, and for homeowners at risk of foreclosure to know they can turn to skilled nonprofit foreclosure counselors, whether face-to-face or over the phone, to help them understand their options and identify steps they can take to help save their home.”

The tour kicked off at RRC, Inc., a local NeighborWorks organization in the Reynoldstown community of Atlanta, GA., that provides foreclosure counseling and homeownership education, as well as affordable new homes to first time homebuyers.  Rodriguez and Blige met with RRC’s President and CEO Young Hughley to discuss the foreclosure counseling process, and also met with Paris Rhoden, a neighborhood resident who has benefited from RRC’s counseling.

Rodriguez then joined Blige, counselors and homeowners for lunch at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta before continuing a tour of Kirkwood and Belvedere neighborhoods and interacting with shop owners and clients at two local strip malls on Memorial Avenue.  The tour was sponsored by the HOPE NOW alliance.

NeighborWorks America helps homeowners across the nation avoid foreclosure through its network of nonprofit housing organizations that offer homeownership and foreclosure intervention counseling; public education campaign promoting the Homeownership Preservation Foundation’s Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline (1-888-995-HOPE); and participation in the HOPE NOW alliance. In addition, NeighborWorks America is the administrator of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program, awarding $307.5 million in grants to state housing finance agencies, HUD-approved counseling intermediaries, and local nonprofit counseling agencies for counseling, and $25.1 million in grants to state housing finance agencies, intermediaries, and local nonprofit counseling organizations to provide legal assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure. 

NeighborWorks also announced in April that it was appropriated $6 million to develop a public education campaign to increase consumer awareness about the dangers of foreclosure rescue scams.

“The current financial crisis has created fertile ground for scam artists who want to take advantage of distressed homeowners.  Homeowners facing financial difficulty need to know who they can trust to receive much-needed financial guidance.  Nonprofit counseling agencies, like the nonprofit organizations in the NeighborWorks network, are a homeowner’s best defense against foreclosure,” said Rodriguez.

To find a nonprofit HUD-approved counseling agency near you, visit www.findaforeclosurecounselor.org.

For more information about NeighborWorks’ foreclosure prevention efforts, please visit www.nw.org.

About NeighborWorks America
NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. Since 1991, we have assisted nearly 1.2 million low- to moderate-income families with their housing needs. Much of our success is achieved through our support of the NeighborWorks network ― more than 230 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $15 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation’s leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.

About RRC
RRC, a member of the national NeighborWorks® network, has produced 167 rental and homeownership units and has rehabbed 280 owner occupied homes.  RRC  operates a HomeOwnership Center that is committed to providing educational services that strengthen an individual’s financial position, encourage community involvement and combat financial tragedies such as foreclosures.  RRC is proud of the fact that its origin is in Reynoldstown, one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in Atlanta. It was established when former slaves migrated to the area to find employment after the Civil War.  Today the Reynoldstown neighborhood has gentrified dramatically, and RRC continues to have a positive impact on the community. Crucial community building activities supported by RRC have strengthened community bonds, such as the annual Wheelbarrow Festival, a community playground, a computer lab, and community art projects.  This community development activity in Reynoldstown spurred private investment resulting in 2,000 additional housing units and contributed to the attraction of the Edgewood Retail District, a major shopping development.  RRC is taking this holistic model of community development in Reynoldstown to other Atlanta communities.

RRC is located at 100 Flat Shoals Ave. SE, Atlanta. The phone number is 404-525-4130