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NeighborWorks America Expands Presence in Louisiana to Address Pressing Community Needs — Grand Opening Ceremony Held for New Office
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On December 11th NeighborWorks America hosted the official opening of our new Louisiana office in New Orleans. View news release and local press coverage. The office will
work with local, regional and national partners to help rebuild homes, develop new affordable housing and strengthen Gulf Coast communities as well as serve as the home base for the coordination of NeighborWorks rebuilding efforts in the state.
A NeighborWorks Training Institute held December 11-15 had close to 1,900 participants. During the week, many NeighborWorks America staff and network members participated in volunteer activities in recovering neighborhoods in New Orleans, including the building of a playground and rehab work. View photos.
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| NeighborWorks Group Builds Homes in McComb, Mississippi, for Katrina's Displaced |
Voice of Calvary Ministries, a NeighborWorks member organization located in Jackson, Mississippi, this month opened a new subdivision in McComb's Victory Park neighborhood with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The 16-unit subdivision was developed for residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Read more and view photos.
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| Nonprofits, Lenders Preparing to Assist Homeowners When Adjustable Mortgages Reset in 2007 |
| More than $1 trillion in U.S. home mortgages have interest rates that will adjust up sharply in 2007, which could squeeze some owners out of their most important investment.
But cash-strapped homeowners now have options, as more companies and nonprofit groups work with lenders to help put delinquent loans back on track.
The efforts of NeighborWorks America were featured in a Reuters article. |
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| NeighborWorks Organization Supports Affordable Green Housing |
| Cambridge Neighborhood Apartment and Housing Services in Massachusetts recently supported the development of an environmentally friendly, mixed-use apartment complex. The development was built with special materials that are energy-efficient. View article in Multi-Housing News.
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| Community
Strategies represent the shared experience of NeighborWorks
America and its member organizations 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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| NeighborWorks America 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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| New Hampshire Organization Opens New Office, Homeownership Education Center |
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Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Nashua held a grand opening of its new office and launch of their NeighborWorks Homeownership Education Center. Bridget Belton-Jette, executive director, hosted the event and Mary Febonio, homeownership director, conducted tours of the Homeownership Center. Among those in attendance were Mayor Bernard A. Streeter; Claira Monier, executive director of the Nashua Housing Finance Authority; and Kathy Hersh, director of community development. Through its Homeownership Program, Neighborhood Housing Services strives to help low and moderate income households achieve and maintain homeownership. View article in Nashua Telegraph.
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| Nebraska NeighborWorks Organization Partners with College to Build a Home for a Woman with Disabilities |
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After being diagnosed
with multiple sclerosis, Cecilia Rossiter found it difficult to find a community and a home that would accomodate her disability. NeighborWorks Lincoln collaborated with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Architecture to custom design a home for Rossiter that complies with standards set by the American with Disabilities Act. View Daily Nebraskan article.
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Former NFL Football Player Warrick Dunn Teams Up with NeighborWorks Group
to Assist Family |
| A 34-year-old mother whose family has been ravaged by cancer got an early Christmas present. The Warrick Dunn Foundation donated all of the furnishings inher newly rebuilt home, which she purchased through NeighborWorks member Clearwater Neighborhood Housing in Florida. Dunn was an Atlanta Falcons running back and a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Read article in the ClearWater Citizen. |
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| Community Development Financial Institutions Fund Offers Tax Credits |
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury has opened the fifth round of competition for tax credits on $3.9 billion in investments under the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. The NMTC Program attracts private-sector capital investment into the nation's urban and rural low-income areas to help finance community development projects, stimulate economic growth and create jobs. Under this round of the NMTC Program, $3.5 billion in allocations authority is available under the general round and an additional $400 million specifically for recovery and redevelopment in the Hurricane Katrina Gulf Opportunity Zone. Guidance and application materials for the NMTC Program are available on the CDFI Fund's Web site. The allocation application deadline is February 28, 2007.
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Kellogg Foundation's 2007 Rural People, Rural Policy Cohort, January 22
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Nonprofits from anywhere in the United States working to improve policy that affects rural people and rural places can apply to receive $100,000 over five years to participate in networks to develop skills and improve their impact on policy making. Applications can be downloaded from the foundation’s Web site. The deadline to apply is January 22, 2007.
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| New Voices Gulf Coast Transformation Fellowship, February 5 |
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New Voices, a national leadership development program, is offering a Gulf Coast Transformation Fellowship. Twelve grants covering salary support for a Fellow for two years will be offered to nonprofits doing innovative social justice work in the Gulf Coast region (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi) and three cities with large numbers of displaced hurricane victims (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston). The initiative is in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to long-standing inequities in the region. The New Voices funding will address needs, solve problems, and defend human rights in six sponsored program areas: human rights, HIV/AIDS, immigrant rights, racial justice, reproductive rights, and women's rights. Click here to download an application.
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| REGISTER ONLINE TODAY! NeighborWorks Training Institute ~ Atlanta ~ February 19-23, 2007 |
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The NeighborWorks Training Institute in Atlanta is an ideal venue for building your skills and enhancing your career. This event promises to be an exciting educational experience, with a fantastic line-up of cutting-edge courses and plenty of opportunities to network with peers.
At the training institute in Atlanta, we are featuring:
Learn more about the NeighborWorks Training Institute in Atlanta or register online at www.nw.org/onlinereg.
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The NeighborWorks Training Institute Held in New Orleans Was a Success!
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Thanks to those who participated in the NeighborWorks Training Institute in New Orleans (December 11-15, 2006). Not only was the event one of our largest in attendance (with close to 1,900 participants from all over the United States), it was our most unique, with community volunteer activities and the launch of online registration.
The one-day symposium — Organizing for Social Equity and Community Rebuilding — was also a big success, with approximately 350 community organizers, resident leaders, funders, and policymakers who came together to explore aspects of the community rebuilding challenge. Symposium resources will be available online in the New Year at www.nw.org/organizingsymposium.
And last, but not least, a big thanks to our many sponsors and partners including State Farm who made it possible for 150 individuals from communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to attend our institute on a full scholarship. Without their support, these individuals would not have had the opportunity to connect with colleagues and bring back cutting-edge resources on community development.
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A Comprehensive Counseling and Education Resource for Housing Counselors and their Clients
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| NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC), in partnership with E*Trade Financial, has launched an exciting and highly useful new Web site to support homeownership education and counseling efforts across the country. Based on the nationally recognized curriculum from NCHEC’s pre-purchase consumer manual Realizing the American Dream, Keys to My Home (www.keystomyhome.org, or accessible through www.nw.org/nchec) has calculators, learning modules, and comparison tools that are easy to use, clearly designed, and free to practitioners and their clients. Keys to My Home is poised to become a cornerstone educational resource for housing counselors and their clients. |
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NLIHC Report : Affordable Housing Remains 'Out of Reach'
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The cost of affordable housing climbed for the eighth consecutive year, continuing to outpace the wages of the low-wage households who need it the most, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)’s annual “Out of Reach” report, which was released last week.
“Every year it is becoming more difficult for low-income families to find decent homes they can afford,” said Sheila Crowley, president of the coalition. “As we approach the holiday season, with its intense focus on consumer spending, ‘Out of Reach’ shows the difficulty that millions of low-income families face to even pay for their homes.”
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HUD Releases Major Report on Rehab Best Practices
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HUD released a two-volume, 400+ page report on the rehabilitation of affordable housing, prepared by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. View report.
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| League of Cities Report: Nation's Cities Have Less Affordable Housing |
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About one of every three of the nation's cities has less affordable housing than they had a year ago, according to a survey the League of Cities released at its annual Congress of Cities. Four out of five of the housing directors surveyed in more than 1,000 U.S. cities of all sizes also said the value of homes and rental costs have increased significantly, putting severe financial strain on families, according to the report. View report [PDF, 180KB]
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| New IDA Resources Added to NeighborWorks Web Site |
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Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are designed to help low-income families and individuals save money to purchase a home, continue their education, receive job training or start a small business. For information about how community-based organizations across the country are designing and implementing successful IDA programs with funding from public and private resources, see NeighborWorks’ Individual Development Accounts Web page.
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