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| HUD Allocates Nearly $4 billion to Stabilize Communities Hard Hit by Foreclosures |
| U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Steve Preston allocated on September 26, a total of $3.92 billion to all states and particularly hard-hit areas trying to respond to the effects of high foreclosures. HUD's new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) will provide targeted emergency assistance to state and local governments to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities. HUD also plans to host a national housing summit in Washington, DC, on October 7-8 to explain the new program. See HUD release. |
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| Data Show Foreclosure Crisis Was Not Caused by Low-Income Borrowers |
| New analysis of loan performance of mortgages made to low-income homeowners who have participated in homeownership education programs through NeighborWorks organizations shows a foreclosure start rate that is 20 times less severe than that for subprime borrowers, and three times better than the prime mortgage market. See NeighborWorks Analysis. |
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| NeighborWorks Responds to Hurricanes with Grants, Assistance |
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NeighborWorks America continues to help families impacted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike with emergency assistance and supplies. In response to Gustav, NeighborWorks provided $233,000 to organizations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to support groups helping residents with food and shelter needs as they returned to their communities. After Ike hit Texas shortly after,
NeighborWorks provided $45,000 to Houston-area NeighborWorks organizations to support their work with residents who were having great difficulty getting to FEMA and Red Cross distribution centers. Ernesto De La Garza, a management consultant in the San Antonio office of NeighborWorks America, has provided some insights into how the Houston grant is being used, including their work to help more than 1,300 families with clean up efforts and other emergency assistance. 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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| NeighborWorks America Distributes $530,000 in Green Grants |
| NeighborWorks America announced earlier this month that it distributed more than half a million dollars in grants to 43 nonprofit organizations around the country to support environmentally conscious housing rehabilitation, new construction and business retooling. The grants funded are supported in part by a contribution to NeighborWorks America from The Home Depot Foundation. Read press release. |
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| Fifty Outstanding Candidates Chosen for Achieving Excellence Program |
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Amidst demand for new ideas in community development, NeighborWorks America has chosen 50 candidates for its high-impact organizational development program, Achieving Excellence. This new diverse and skilled group will begin its 18-month experience at Harvard University on October 14, 2008. Achieving Excellence is a comprehensive organizational development program that trains senior managers at local non-profit organizations to better address the critical challenges facing their organizations and communities. The program also helps participants enhance fundraising capacity and better work with local government. Read news release.
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| Community HousingWorks Gets Home Depot Foundation Award for Sustainable Housing |
| California-based Community HousingWorks, a NeighborWorks organization, received $25,000 as a runner-up in The Home Depot Foundation’s fourth annual Awards of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly. The Awards of Excellence program was created to inspire non-profit housing developers by recognizing and showcasing outstanding examples of affordable, sustainably built homes. Community HousingWorks was recognized in the Rental Property category at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., September 17. Madison Area Community Land Trust (CLT) won first place in the Homeownership Project category and Mercy Housing Lakefront of Chicago won first place in the Rental Property category. See The Home Depot Foundation news release. |
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| HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program State Funding Allocations Available |
| The Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provides emergency assistance to state and local governments to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities Following the September 29 announcement about this new program, HUD posted the formula and allocations by state and local community on its Web site. More information on NSP is available on the program's Web site. |
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| 2009 ENERGY STAR Award Applications Now Available, Deadline December 12 |
| Each year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) honor organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. All organizations participating in the ENERGY STAR program are encouraged to apply for a 2009 ENERGY STAR Award. To be considered, an organization must meet the specific eligibility requirements in the award application and submit a complete online application package by December 12, 2008. Learn more. |
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| $50,000 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Deadline December 15 |
| The Bruner Foundation offers an annual gold medal award in the amount of $50,000 and four silver medal awards of $10,000 each to "urban places that demonstrate the successful integration of effective process, meaningful values and good design." Applications and more information are now available on the foundation's Web site. The deadline to apply is December 15. |
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Community Improvement Project Assistance from Lowe's
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| The Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) funds community improvement projects and home safety initiatives, including building repair and renovation, community clean-up, landscaping and painting projects, construction and trades related initiatives and playground enhancements. Applications are awarded on an ongoing basis. An eligibility test is available on their Web site. |
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'The Future of Rental Housing' Symposium Set For December NeighborWorks
Training Institute in Washington, DC |
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The next NeighborWorks Training Institute will be held December 8-12 in Washington, DC, and will feature The Future of Rental Housing: Policy to Preserve Choice for American Families Symposium on December 10, where national policy leaders and practitioners in the area of multifamily housing will be featured.
Juan Williams, senior correspondent and political analyst for the Washington Post, NPR and Fox News, will be the keynote speaker at this symposium, which is geared toward policy researchers, real estate finance executives, affordable housing developers, executive directors and senior management, and government policy affairs staff.
Please join us to hear from national policy leaders and practitioners as we explore new approaches to preserving and developing these important assets, and the benefits that these approaches can provide. The symposium will provide participants opportunities to discuss and assess the state of a wide range of current and proposed policies at the state, local and federal levels.
In addition to the symposium, NeighborWorks is pleased to offer over 100 courses at the Washington, DC, Training Institute, including several foreclosure-related courses. Learn more and register for courses online. Registration is open now! Further information and a downloadable, faxable registration form are also available at www.nw.org/training. |
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| Learn How to Build a House |
| At the Washington, DC, Training Institute, the Construction and Production Management track will be offering several top quality courses, including How to Build a House, which walks participants through the building process of a typical house. This one-day course will teach the “nuts and bolts” of how to build a quality home by outlining the steps taken to “grow” the vacant lot into a structure. This course will also consider design issues that might add value in the community and will also review “green building” and energy saving techniques that can save money. This is the second of three courses in the Single-Family New Construction series, but can also be taken as a free-standing course. Learn more. |
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| New Certificate Programs Available in the Affordable Housing and Construction & Production Tracks |
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The NeighborWorks Training Institute is proud to present six new certificate offerings in the Affordable Housing and Construction and Production tracks. These new certificates are designed to parallel existing jobs in the non-profit housing development industry.
Two new certificate offerings are from the Affordable Housing track. Both of the certificates include a series of required courses designated for a certificate in that discipline. These individual certificates are all under the Affordable Housing Professional Certificate Program, assuring ongoing quality in content and instruction.
Four of the new certificate offerings are in Construction and Production Management. One new certificate in Green Building and Healthy Housing is the first certificate of its kind ever offered in the United States.
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| Coming Soon: NeighborWorks America's Community Stabilization Web Site |
| NeighborWorks America is developing a new community stabilization Web site with the support of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The web site, www.stablecommunities.org, is currently in beta form and staff is working on amassing and assembling content. The purpose of the site is to be a one-stop shop for resources and information on stabilizing communities in the wake of the foreclosure crisis. The site is scheduled to go live in mid-October. |
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| Video: Stress Reduction Advice for Foreclosure Counselors |
| Foreclosure intervention counseling, always difficult, has become more stressful as the growing foreclosure crisis causes caseloads to spike. In a new NeighborWorks video, foreclosure counselors on the frontline share their job frustrations and learn some practical ways they can manage the pressures of this very important job. The video was shot at a workshop held at the Chicago NeighborWorks Training Institute and is posted on the NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions Web site. You may also view the video on YouTube |
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| NACo Launches Green Government Database |
| Through its Green Government Initiative, the National Association of Counties (NACo) has launched a searchable database of U.S. counties implementing pro-environment and energy-efficient practices, policies, and programs. The database contains copies of county policies, program descriptions, case studies, job descriptions, resolutions and more. Users can search by keyword, state, county size, type of document or issue areas such as climate change, green buildings, renewable energy, land use, purchasing and waste management. For more information, visit www.greencounties.org. |
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| NeighborWorks Consumer Home Buying Guides |
| The newest additions to our growing range of valuable practitioner resources are the Consumer Home Buying Guides, a set of four consumer-focused guides to various stages of the home buying process. Developed by Fannie Mae Foundation, these guides deliver practical, specific and concise information in a user-friendly format. For more information on the guides, including translations into a number of languages and ordering details, click here. |
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