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| Former Executive Director George Knight Inducted into Affordable Housing Hall of Fame |
George Knight, former executive director of NeighborWorks America, was inducted into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame during The Affordable Housing Developers’ Summit in Chicago in October. Knight's wife, Kathy Desmond, accepted the award.
Steve Tuminaro, NeighborWorks America’s director of Public Policy and Legislative Affairs and long-time colleague of Knight, addressed the attendees, speaking of the significant growth of the NeighborWorks system under Knight’s leadership. Tuminaro also spoke of the legacy for continued growth that Knight left with us.
Read the article in Affordable Housing Finance Magazine regarding the Hall of Fame inductees.
View NeighborWorks America's tribute to Knight: Remembering George Knight: A Model for Servant Leadership |
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| High Impact Philanthropy in the Downturn |
| The Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania has listed NeighborWorks America as a resource for donors interested in addressing foreclosure issues. In a new report, High Impact in the Downturn, the center makes the case that donors seeking a big bang for their buck should fund housing counseling and outreach to assist families at risk of foreclosure. NeighborWorks is mentioned for "strong work in foreclosure prevention" and the NFMC program. Download the report, which focuses not only on housing, but also health and hunger. |
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| NeighborWorks' Fight Against Loan Modification Scams Kicks Off in Ohio and Texas |
NeighborWorks America’s Loan Modification Scam Alert campaign moved into Ohio and Texas on November 18 as part of a national effort to educate homeowners about scammers who are out to take advantage of those facing foreclosure.
"We can't afford to wait any longer," said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America. "Loan-modification scams have reached epidemic proportions. There are thousands of fraudulent companies out there making a mint," he said.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Columbus Housing Partnership President and CEO Amy Klaben joined Wade at the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio to launch the campaign. In Waco, Texas, the kickoff event included JoAnn DePenning, chair of the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force and Roy Nash, president and CEO of NeighborWorks Waco. At both events homeowners who were scammed shared their stories, Read more. |
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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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| U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies Hit All Time High |
| More homeowners than ever are having trouble making their monthly mortgage payments, according to figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association and reported in the New York Times.
Nearly one in 10 homeowners with mortgages was at least one payment behind in the third quarter, which translates into about five million households with delinquencies.
According to the report, mortgages with problems are concentrated in four states: California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. Read more in the New York Times.
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| Fannie Mae Offers Rental Option to Borrowers in Foreclosure |
| Homeowners in trouble are being offered a new option to stay in their homes if they can’t pay their mortgage. Earlier this month, Fannie Mae announced that it will begin allowing borrowers on the verge of foreclosure to rent back their homes for up to one year. The new Deeds for Lease Program is designed for borrowers who do not qualify for or have not been able to sustain other loan-workout solutions, such as a modification. Under the program, borrowers transfer their property to the lender by completing a deed in lieu of foreclosure, and then lease back the house at a market rate. Find out more about it. Two NeighborWorks America organizations share their thoughts in this AP story. |
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| HUD Awards More Than $4.8M to NeighborWorks America for Housing Counseling |
NeighborWorks America announces that it received $4,860,802 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will support training and certification opportunities for thousands of counselors from HUD-approved nonprofit counseling agencies, as well as nonprofit housing counseling at local NeighborWorks organizations.
“The grants announced by Secretary Donovan provide tremendous support for the critical housing counseling and training activities being carried out by NeighborWorks America and our affiliated NeighborWorks organizations across the country,” said Jayna Bower, director of the NeighborWorks Center Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC). “Homeownership education and counseling enables families to make sound financial decisions and achieve and sustain homeownership, which contributes to healthy, stable communities nationwide."
Read more in the NeighborWorks newsroom. |
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| NeighborWorks Applauds CFED's 30th Anniversary Celebration and Push to Create Economic Opportunities Through Innovation |
CFED (Corporation for Enterprise Development), a long-time partner of NeighborWorks America, recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with an Innovation Summit and Gala celebration in Washington, DC. CFED has led the growth in individual development accounts for low-income American families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream. At least a dozen local NeighborWorks organizations offer IDA programs.
CFED's Innovation Summit featured more than 20 innovations to help expand economic opportunity for millions of Americans. Among them was Manufactured Housing Done Right!™, a new social enterprise developed by NeighborWorks member Frontier Housing in Kentucky. (See Resources section below for a case study on this model.)
Eileen Fitzgerald, chief operating officer, Marietta Rodriguez, NeighborWorks deputy director for National Homeownership Programs and Lending, and David Dangler, director of NeighborWorks Rural Initiative, were among the summit participants from NeighborWorks America. Read more about it in the NeighborWorks newsroom. |
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| Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker and F.B. Heron Foundation President Sharon King Honored |
The Honorable Cory A. Booker, mayor of Newark and Sharon King, president of the F.B. Heron Foundation were honored as “Visionary Leaders in Community Development” at the Fourth Annual NeighborWorks America Northeast District Reception, hosted by the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York on Park Avenue in Manhattan. The annual district reception, known as “A Community United,” drew 300 leaders from the housing field, finance, government, foundations and nonprofits.
NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade spoke about Mayor Booker’s dedication to “development without displacement” in more than doubling the number of affordable housing units in the city of Newark, while significantly reducing crime, beautifying public spaces and enforcing an aggressive anti-abandonment strategy. King, a long-time NeighborWorks supporter, was cited by Wade for having “shaped a foundation that is known for its uncommonly close partnership with grantees — a collaboration based on a culture of engagement, trust, mutual learning and a focus on results.” Read more. |
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| NeighborWorks America Announces $1.9 Million in Community Stabilization Grants |
NeighborWorks awarded a total of $1.9 million in community stabilization grants to 38 local NeighborWorks organizations throughout the country. Each NeighborWorks organization will use its $50,000 grant to support its community stabilization efforts, which are primarily focused on acquiring, renovating, and selling foreclosed or vacant homes to low- and moderate-income families.
Altogether, the NeighborWorks organization grantees and their local strategic partners plan to purchase 2,800 housing units. In addition, 451 blighted homes are slated for demolition. Just over 8,000 prospective homeowners will be served through pre-purchase counseling programs expanded to address the challenges of buying bank-owned properties
Read more about where these grants are going and how they will be used. |
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Home Headquarters Receives $100,000 Grant from NeighborWorks America
to Help Strengthen Auburn and Binghamton Communities |
| NeighborWorks America recently announced that it awarded a special $100,000 grant to Syracuse-based Home HeadQuarters, Inc., a member of the national NeighborWorks network, to help the organization expand its community stabilization work to the Auburn and Binghamton communities. Home HeadQuarters was recently named the top producing agency in rehabilitating homes during the last fiscal year, having led all of the 240-plus organizations in the NeighborWorks network by rehabilitating and improving almost 900 homes for Central New York homeowners. The NeighborWorks America grant announced today helps Home HeadQuarters continue to broaden its work into communities that have been hard hit by the national foreclosure crisis and years of disinvestment, enabling it to bring vacant housing back into productive use and stabilize neighborhood home values. Learn more. |
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| NeighborWorks America Says FHA is an Important Part of Safely Growing America’s Housing Market |
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NeighborWorks America has joined with other affordable housing leaders in issuing a joint letter to Members of Congress, expressing support for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade has also issued a statement, emphasizing that the FHA is an important part of safely growing America’s housing market.
On November 12, FHA released their FY 2009 Actuarial Review, which points out that:
- FHA is temporarily playing an increased role to prevent foreclosures and support the return of private capital to the housing market
- The actuarial review expects significant losses on FHA loans made before 2009, but concludes that under most economic scenarios considered FHA's reserves will remain positive
- FHA loans perform substantially better than subprime loans and new borrower quality has improved significantly
- FHA has taken action to address risks to its portfolio and is actively considering additional measures.
On the heels of the release, some erroneous information and a number of misstatements have been included in articles, which causes NeighborWorks America concern that this misinformation can lead to an erosion of support for the important role being played by FHA — similar to the misinformation that led some to blame CRA for the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
NeighborWorks America believes it is important for responsible affordable housing organizations to be part of correcting misstatements that they may observe in their media markets. In support of this effort NeighborWorks America established a Web page with information and reports about the FHA.
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| NeighborWorks America Supports Congressional Efforts to Extend the Homebuyer Tax Credit |
| NeighborWorks America applauds the latest decision by Congress and the Obama Administration to renew and extend the homebuyer tax credit. NeighborWorks also urges all homebuyers to seek homeownership education from a HUD-approved nonprofit organization before purchasing a home. View statement. |
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| New Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants Funding, Deadline December 14 |
| A new notice of funding availability has just been released by the U.S. Department of Energy, for a Retrofit Ramp-up Program, which aims to stimulate activities and investments that help to save energy. The program will select eight to 20 places for $5—$75 million grants for large-scale retrofit of neighborhoods. The application due date is December 14. The eligible applicants are same as DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants: states and eligible units of local governments. If you are interested in this program for your community, you should quickly be in touch with your local government's sustainability office or energy office about how you can help them shape their plans for submission. Learn more. |
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| Register On-Site for the DC-Metro Area Training Institute |
| If you missed the online registration, you can still join us in the Washington, DC, metro area on December 7-11 for over 100 courses in community engagement, neighborhood revitalization, green building, affordable housing, homeownership education, management and leadership and much more. Register on-site at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center, at the National Harbor in Maryland. NeighborWork’s DC-Metro Area Training Institute will host the Affordable Housing Symposium Rising to the Challenge: Stabilizing Communities in the Wake of Foreclosure, which will focus attention on innovative policy, financing, property acquisition and development strategies. Learn about comprehensive best practices to help us all improve and advance sustainable communities. Policy makers, funders, practitioners, developers and property managers will share the latest and most effective techniques and ideas to get the work done in your community. |
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| Save the Date for the New Orleans Training Institute |
| Look for information to be released in early December on the New Orleans, LA, Training Institute being held March 1 – 5, 2010. Take part in the renowned NeighborWorks neighborhood revitalization training and certification courses, participate in the Rural Symposium and be a “volun-tourist” in NeighborWorks’ rebuilding volunteer activities. More information will be available online and in print next month! |
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| Rural Symposium Returns to NeighborWorks Training Institute |
| Save the date for the Rural Symposium — Investing for Change: Leveraging Community Assets in Rural and Small Cities, being held at the New Orleans, LA, Training Institute March 3. Actively participate in a day-long event alongside policy makers, practitioners, regulators and funders. The symposium is designed to highlight how the most promising innovations in three sectors — public, private and community-based nonprofit — have seasoned and disciplined community-based channels to quickly and effectively move capital into high value production. Look for more information to be available next month! |
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LeadersforCommunities.org Is a Growing and Thriving Community
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| With over 700 members and over 20 special interest groups, LeadersforCommunities.org is a thriving and growing community offering diverse discussions, resources and networking opportunities for everything from how-to and best practices to keeping in touch with colleagues and the job market. Participate in discussions about recruiting volunteer support. Read and post to blogs about the value and use of online communities and social networking in your organizations. Keep track of what’s happening around the country and in your region and share best practices with your peers. Join the community yourself and see how being a part of LeadersforCommunities.org can help you and your organization. |
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| New Report: Replacement Housing with Manufactured Housing Done Right!™ |
| Manufactured Housing Done Right!™ is a scalable replacement program for substandard housing, particularly pre-1976 manufactured housing, developed by Frontier Housing, a member of the Network based in Morehead, Kentucky. Frontier's model offers a real opportunity to improve living conditions, reduce energy consumption and protect the environment. According to a case study on the model released earlier this month, "Decades of debate have not found a more cost-effective alternative for providing single-family homeownership for low-income people living in the vast rural areas of the country." Download case study. |
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| Organizational Capital: A New Approach to Lending in Nonprofit Affordable Housing |
| This white paper stresses the urgent need for equity, or "organizational capital," to help nonprofit housing organizations build their capacity and their impact.
This research outlines the practical challenges to organizational investing and uncovers the underlying barriers that have prevented a nonprofit organizational capital market from emerging.
The study concludes that while a new nonprofit reporting system would greatly encourage organizational investing in housing, the private markets alone will not bring organizational lending to scale. The final sections of the paper discuss the public policy implications of a closed nonprofit capital system and highlight some innovative approaches taken by lenders to overcome the obstacles of organizational investing and advance a new model of lending in nonprofit affordable housing. Download this study. |
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| Cost Benefits of Resident Services on Select Categories of Property Operations: A Comparative Study |
In 2008, Community Housing Partners (CHP), with funding and research support from NeighborWorks America, engaged in a study to better understand the financial impact of resident services on property performance in service-enriched affordable family rental housing.
Examining data from FY 2006 and 2007, this study finds that operational costs relating to vacancy loss, bad debt and legal expenses were significantly lower at properties with resident services than at those without resident services. In addition to these findings, the report offers opportunities for future replication, development of best practices and recommendations for next steps.
Get this report.
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