FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2002

Contact: Mark Burneko
Neighborhood Reinvestment
(202) 220-2360

Expanded Homeownership for Working Families, Increased Affordable Multifamily Housing Development Top NeighborWorks Agenda

Housing Challenges Facing Households Below 30 Percent of Median Income
Outlined in Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Testimony
Before Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies

Washington, DC - The challenge of affordably housing America's extremely low-income families-including working families, the elderly and those with disabilities-requires the multifaceted approach of financing, consumer education, and resident leadership used by NeighborWorks® organizations nationwide, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation today testified before Congress.

Speaking before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for HUD, VA and Independent Agencies; Neighborhood Reinvestment Executive Director Ellen Lazar said that congressional funding for NeighborWorks organizations provides the needed underpinning for strengthening their communities, transforming resident's lives and bringing more families into the economic mainstream.

"Throughout the Corporation and the NeighborWorks network, we feel an increased responsibility to the concepts of positive action, purposeful change and community-wide commitment that are so critical to our country today," Lazar said.

Neighborhood Reinvestment is a national, public nonprofit intermediary created by Congress in 1978 to support and expand revitalization of lower-income communities throughout America. The Corp-oration founded and supports the NeighborWorks network of more than 220 community-based nonprofits serving more than 2,000 urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide. These organizations revitalize neighborhoods by mobilizing public, private, and resident-led partnerships and tailoring affordable housing, economic development, and resident leadership activities to meet specific community needs.

Neighborhood Reinvestment would receive $105 million under the FY 2003 budget proposed by the Bush Administration. Additionally, private-sector investment related to NeighborWorks activities could top $1.5 billion in FY 2003, generating approximately $15 for every $1 provided through congressional appropriation, Lazar said.

Lazar's testimony cited several examples of innovative strategies used by NeighborWorks organizations to address a range of community revitalization needs, including expanded homeownership opportunities and the development of affordable mixed-income rental housing.

Federal funding in support of homeownership through the NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership has produced remarkable results in the course of the five-year initiative, said Lazar. The Campaign, which concludes its current five-year phase in December 2002, is expected to surpass its goal of helping create 40,000 new homeowners. The average income of Campaign homebuyers is $29,300, nearly half the national average household income; 95 percent of those assisted are first-time buyers; 52 percent are ethnic minority buyers; and 42 percent are single women.

Additionally, the NeighborWorks network is a national leader in creating a financing entity, Neighborhood Capital Corporation, to provide affordable short-term financing for purchasing multifamily properties that are at risk of deterioration or being lost to the community as affordable housing stock. During the next two years, NCC is expected to leverage more than $20 million from private-sector investment.

"These multifamily properties are critical to the mixed-income housing stock serving families under 30 percent of local area median income," Lazar told the panel. Funding for NCC, which included an initial $1.8 million investment by Neighborhood Reinvestment, will support the production pipeline of mixed-income properties by financing acquisition and preservation of existing properties, Lazar added.

"We are committed to building strong communities," Lazar said. "The needs of underserved communities are as diverse as the nation itself. Therefore, our approach to revitalization must reflect those diverse needs."

Read testimony

NeighborWorks is a registered trademark of Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

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