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NeighborWorks Marshals Homeownership and
Hope for the Holidays
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Families who celebrate the holidays in safe, affordable homes this year have access to a host of wealth-building opportunities. To ensure more families have those opportunities, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation CEO Ken Wade announced that the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC) will triple the number of counselors certified across the nation—increasing national capacity to serve more than two million individuals each year by 2007. View press release.
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| MGIC Supports NeighborWorks Homeowner Education Program with Scholarships |
More consumers will soon receive much-needed help understanding the homeownership rules of the road, thanks to Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation’s (MGIC) generous support of the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC). Over the next three years, MGIC will provide scholarships for 150 families of modest means to attend homeownership education courses at NeighborWorks Training Institutes.
View press release.
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New Orleans Hosts Nation’s Largest Homeownership and
Community Development Training Institute
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This week, New Orleans is hosting the largest training force of housing and community development advocates in the nation—the NeighborWorks Training Institute.
View press release.
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Neighborhood Reinvestment Receives Grants From Fannie Mae, MetLife Foundation
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Fannie Mae Corporation awarded Neighborhood Reinvestment $210,000 for the NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Centers, $40,000 for NeighborWorks Training Institute symposia, and $40,000 toward the updating of broker’s training materials.
The MetLife Foundation announced a $215,000 grant to Neighborhood Reinvestment for:
- Operating support to 12 NeighborWorks organizations participating in the Financial Fitness program and located in MetLife markets
- Financial awards and administrative support for the NeighborWorks Innovations in Homeownership Awards funded by MetLife and
- Financial support for the creation of a marketing toolkit focused focused on reaching minority markets.
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| Community
Strategies represents the shared experience of the NeighborWorks
network and Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation in various topics
of community development and affordable housing. |
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| The
NeighborWorks Training
Institute is dedicated to providing the highest quality training
for community development practitioners. Learn about the latest
classes and symposia on leading-edge topics. |
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| Neighborhood
Reinvestment, working closely with members of the NeighborWorks
network and partners, produces a wide-variety of publications. Most
are free and others cost a nominal fee to order. For a complete
listing and order forms, go to NeighborWorks Publications. |
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| Find lists
and charts on Neighborhood Reinvestment and the NeighborWorks
network organizations. |
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| NHS of New York City Gala Raises
$1 Million; Preservation Award Goes to Getter |
| Neighborhood Reinvestment Management Consultant Keith Getter was honored at the NHS of New York City’s 22nd anniversary celebration Gala as the recipient of The Francine C. Justa Neighborhood Preservation Award. Getter has been providing high-quality management consulting services to NHS of NYC for more than 15 years. The event raised more than
$1 million for the organization. The chair of the event was Carl Levinson, head of Citigroup Consumer Division nationwide, who announced Citigroup’s $750,000 three-year award to support the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling. Ken Wade, CEO of Neighborhood Reinvestment, offered remarks to the gathering and introduced Sarah Gerecke, NHSNYC CEO. |
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| More NeighborWorks Network Celebrations and Anniversaries |
| NHS of Waco, Texas, recognized its 1,000th homeownership client this month... Urban Edge, a Boston-area
NeighborWorks organization, celebrated its 30th anniversary with more than 1,000 guests, raising more than $255,000 in support of affordable housing and commercial redevelopment in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and surrounding neighborhoods... As part of Pocatello (Idaho) NHS's 10th anniversary, US Bank officials presented the organization with a $10,000 check during an open house. |
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| USA Today Features Articles on Predatory Lending and Subprime Industry |
More than 25 states and a host of towns and cities have passed predatory-lending restrictions since 1999, reports USA Today. View article. The newspaper also ran an article on subprime lending
Bad Credit, Good Business. The growth in subprime mortgage lending has attracted accolades and controversy. Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich has said subprime lenders helped push homeownership to record levels, making it possible for a growing number of minorities to buy homes. But he also raises questions about high delinquency rates.
Gramlich serves as chair of the Neighborhood Reinvestment board of directors. |
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| Gulley Wins Humanitarian Award for 'A Life of Service: One Home at a Time' |
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The YWCA of Tampa Bay, Florida, honored
Isay Gulley
with its annual Humanitarian of the Year award. For the last 25 years, Gulley, the president and chief executive officer of NeighborWorks member Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services, has worked to help low-income people realize their dreams of homeownership.
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| Partnership Commits $37 Million for 150,000 Units for Homeless |
The nine members of the Partnership to End Long-Term Homelessness said they have committed
$37 million to help spur the creation of 150,000 units of specialized housing in the next 10 years for the chronically homeless. They acknowledged, however, that much more money would be needed to reach their goal.
View press release.
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| Wells Fargo Grants to NHS of Phoenix and Other Housing Organizations |
| Wells Fargo presented a $50,000 Focus Community grant to Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix, $45,000 to Chicanos Por La Causa, and $25,000 to Rebuilding Together.
The grant money will be used to help provide education, counseling and down payment and closing cost assistance to low- and moderate-income home buyers in Phoenix.
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| Insurers Agents Find Urban Markets Take Well To Insurance Education |
| NeighborWorks organizations, such as Neighborhood Housing Services of Staten Island, have begun to implement insurance education programs with help from members of the insurance industry. For example, Glen Mancuso, an Allstate agent, has spent many weekends and evenings leading insurance education seminars for new, working-class homeowners; he's been doing it at Neighborhood Housing Services of Staten Island since 1981. "People have no clue what's covered," Mancuso said. "Everything's scary to them. But once you've taught them the basics, throw in a few fire extinguishers as door prizes, they tend to trust you. They know you're working after hours, and it means something." View article Best's Review. |
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| Manchester NHS Director Torres: 'A Heroic Figure' |
| Felix M. Torres, executive director of Manchester Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., is leaving his post in January to become senior business development manager with Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C. An editorial in the Manchester Union leader saluted Torres for making a difference in helping people and neighborhoods. Manchester Mayor Bob Baines described Torres as "one of the heroic figures in the renaissance of downtown Manchester." |
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| African-American Students Recognized for Essays
on Homeownership Gap |
| Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation CEO Ken Wade recognized three students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for their essays entitled “Taking Matters into Our Own Hands: How African-Americans can Reduce the Homeownership Gap.” Wade presented the awards during the NeighborWorks National Training Institute in New Orleans— the largest gathering of homeownership and community development advocates in the nation. View article. |
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| SEC Tells Fannie Mae to Restate Earnings; New GSE Housing Goals Set |
| The Securities and Exchange Commission told Fannie Mae that it should correct its past accounting, a directive that could erase 38 percent of the profit the government-sponsored company has claimed since the beginning of 2001, according to an article in the Washington Post. Fannie Mae said they would take the steps necessary to comply fully with the SEC's determination.
On December 9, HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner John Weicher held a briefing on the final GSE affordable housing goals rule, published November 2 in the Federal Register. The rule sets new housing goal levels for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. |
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| President Signs Appropriations Bill That Funds Neighborhood Reinvestment |
| President Bush signed the omnibus appropriations bill on December 8. The bill provides funding for HUD and other agencies including Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation for FY2005. |
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| CDFI Accomplishments Posted |
The Coalition of Community Development Financial Institutions has recently released updated snapshots of CDFI industry accomplishments in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
View fact sheets. |
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| HUD Awards Program on Removing Housing Regulatory Barriers |
HUD announced an awards program to
recognize states, cities, counties and other units of local government
that have taken concrete steps to remove regulatory barriers to affordable
housing. The closing date for
applications is March 15 2005. Applications can be submitted by local
governments, homebuilders, nonprofits, or even individuals. View information.
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| USDA Rural Development Proposes Multifamily Regs |
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USDA Rural Development staff announced regulations to streamline multifamily programs, including the preservation process. View proposed regs.
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| OTS Proposes Further CRA Regulations |
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The Office of Thrift Supervision proposed the following changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations:
- Expanding the CRA definition of "community development" in
rural areas to include services targeted to individuals who are not low to moderate income.
- Allowing large retail savings associations to eliminate the investment and services requirements in their entirety. At the option of the large thrift, only the lending test would remain. Thrifts are the nation's savings and loans, which have traditionally focused on home lending.
The comment deadline is January 24. More information.
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| HUD Funding Vouchers |
HUD officials outlined how funding for vouchers in FY2005 will be implemented, offering early guidance to public housing agencies prior to implementation in January. View press release.
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| HUD Secretary and Freddie Mac Chairman Address Home Builders |
Federal and local officials, researchers, corporate officials, and others participated in a symposium sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders and Freddie Mac in Washington. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson applauded the purpose of the symposium and said that President Bush supports smart growth in urban areas to keep workers closer to their jobs and, in turn, save on energy and transportation costs. Richard F. Syron,
chairman and CEO of Freddie Mac also addressed the home builders. View Syron's comments.
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| CDFI Fund Technical Assistance Program, January 25 |
| "CDFI Fund officially opened the fiscal year 2005 funding round of the Technical Assistance (TA) Component of its CDFI Program today with the posting of a copy of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) on its Web site...the CDFI Fund anticipates awarding approximately $2 million in TA grants this round. The application deadline is 5 p.m., eastern time, on Tuesday, January 25, 2005. http://www.cdfifund.gov |
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| Regional Training Institute in Denver, February 2005 |
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The Rocky Mountain District’s Regional Training Institute will be held February 7-11, 2005, in Denver, Colorado. Featuring intensive core and specialized education in all aspects of affordable housing and community development, the Rocky Mountain RTI will offer a symposium and other content related specifically to issues facing the region. While the event focuses primarily on Rocky Mountain states and Texas, courses in the Native American, homeownership and community lending, and rural subject areas are open to a national audience. View information.
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| NeighborWorks bright ideas: Kansas, Homeownership Counseling |
| The Winter issue of NeighborWorks bright ideas features NeighborWorks activity in Kansas; Akron, Ohio; as well as a special section on the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC) and much more. View issue. |
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| NPR Features Piece on Individual Development Accounts |
On November 11, National Public Radio's Morning Edition told about asset building for the working poor, with a focus on Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Senator Rick Santorum
(R-Pennsylvania) and Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut) are mentioned as introducing a new bill that would use tax credits to expand IDAs. EARN, a San Francisco nonprofit, is featured as offering IDAs with training for participants. Listen to broadcast. For more on IDAs, visit Neighborhood Reinvestment's IDA Web section.
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| Free Credit Report Resource Launched |
| A major new credit resource for homebuyers and other consumers provides congressionally mandated free credit reports for millions of Americans — one per year from each of the three national credit bureaus — but it will also offer extensive tools to help consumers monitor their credit files and guard against identification theft. Visit Annual Credit Report |
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| USDA Rural Development Study Released |
| USDA Rural Development released a Comprehensive Property Assessment and Portfolio Analysis report on the Section 515 rural rental housing program. The report is available on the Web site of the Housing Assistance Council. |
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| Stepping Up to a Great Home: The Value of Well-Designed Stairs |
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Great exterior stairs can do more than just meet code, they can be a thoughtful part of the whole development and how it engages the street and sidewalk. Exterior stairs play an important part in the transition from public to private, something which any successful housing development needs to handle well. Interior stairs are also important and, if thoughtfully considered, can make even a small floor plan feel spacious and pleasant. It is the process of design which will help you use stairs to add delight to lives of your residents and their neighbors — without adding dollars to your development costs. www.designadvisor.org/updates.
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