News Release

January 15, 2010

Contact: Doug Robinson, drobinson@nw.org, 202 220-2360
Erin Angell Collins, eangell@nw.org, 202 220-6317

NeighborWorks Congratulates Local NeighborWorks Organizations
on Stabilization Grant Funding
19 Local Organizations and Their Local and Regional Partners Awarded
Over $548M in Grants to Stabilize Their Communities

Washington D.C.—Today NeighborWorks America announced that 19 local NeighborWorks organizations, along with their local, regional, and state partners, were awarded $548,381,663, or 27 percent of the total $1.93 billion awarded in the second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The NeighborWorks organizations received the funding as part of consortium partnerships with state and local government offices, the private sector, and other nonprofits in their communities, and will build on the stabilization efforts already underway in many communities.  Stabilization efforts include acquisition, rehabilitation or demolition of vacant or abandoned foreclosed properties, and/or financial assistance to low- to middle-income homebuyers to purchase foreclosed properties.

The local NeighborWorks organizations awarded NSP round two funds are:

• Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services
• Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (Miami)
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County (Anaheim)
• La Casa de Don Pedro (Newark, N.J.)
• Brand New Day (Elizabeth, N.J.)
• HANDS, Inc. (Orange, N.J.)
• St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society (Camden, N.J.)
• Columbus Housing Partnership (Columbus, Ohio)
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Toledo (Toledo, Ohio)
• Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation (Anthony, N.M.)
• Colorado Rural Housing Development Corporation (Westminster, Colo.)
• Affordable Homes of South Texas (McAllen, Texas)
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Silicon Valley (San Jose, Calif.)
• Argenta Community Development Corporation (North Little Rock, Ark.)
• Housing Partnership, Inc. (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix
• Neighborhood Development Services (Ravenna, Ohio)
• St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center (Baltimore)
• The Primavera Foundation (Tucson, Ariz.)

“The collective knowledge, experience, and effective tools and strategies employed by housing and community development nonprofits can remedy the unprecedented challenges created by the housing crisis,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America.  “By working with our government and private sector partners to stabilize communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis, local NeighborWorks organizations have the opportunity to rebuild healthy and sustainable communities.”

The second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding demonstrates that this crisis requires a response as intense and comprehensive as the challenge itself, which is why most of the local NeighborWorks organizations partnered with their state or local government, the private sector, and other nonprofit partners in applying for the second round of NSP funding. Each partner brings their unique strengths and expertise in a variety of disciplines needed to effectively stabilize communities, including assembling capital, property acquisition, rehabilitation or demolition, homeownership education, land banking, and asset and property management. Nonprofit housing and community development organizations, government and private sector partners that combine their strengths will amplify their ability to transform the housing crisis into an opportunity to rebuild neighborhoods and create healthy, sustainable communities. These cross-sector partnerships will be most effective in navigating their communities through the crisis.

Local nonprofit community development organizations like the NeighborWorks organizations that applied for and received NSP 2 funding know their neighborhoods block-by-block, neighbor-by-neighbor.  For the last 30 years nonprofits have been stewards of stable neighborhoods, brokering successful partnerships with federal, state, and local government offices and the private sector that have helped to improve the lives of millions of Americans through community revitalization, financial education, and the creation of safe, decent affordable housing.

The knowledge and experience of nonprofit community development organizations regarding the cost-effective acquisition of vacant and abandoned properties, combined with their skill in rehabilitating properties for affordable homeownership or rental opportunities, is critical to long-term success. Nonprofits bring proven methods to attract residents back to these once-thriving areas with quality affordable housing and greater employment opportunities, improved community services, and green space.

“We thank HUD and Congress for making this investment in communities and the nonprofits that serve them. Enabling nonprofits to compete and receive this funding acknowledges the important contributions these organizations have made to community revitalization projects across the country,” said Wade.

For more information about NeighborWorks’ community stabilization efforts, please visit www.stablecommunities.org or contact Erin Angell Collins, 202-220-6317 or ecollins@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. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $19.5 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation’s leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.