NeighborWorks America Receives $1 Million Grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for Nonprofit Housing Counseling and Foreclosure Prevention

NeighborWorks America today announced that it received $1 million from The Rockefeller Foundation in support of infrastructure development and upgraded technical support for nonprofit housing counseling organizations. The grant will help to strengthen and supplement nonprofit housing counseling capacity and increase their efficiency and ability to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Specifically, the grant will help NeighborWorks America provide data management and technical support to nonprofit organizations using CounselorMax™ to manage homeowner client data and to deliver and track that information to the servicers through the HOPE LoanPort, a web-based tool developed by the HOPE NOW Alliance that streamlines loan modification applications on behalf of borrowers at-risk of foreclosure, allowing housing counselors to efficiently transmit completed applications to mortgage servicers. In addition, the grant will also support community-based outreach events for homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

“Homeowners and housing counselors need better technology to work through the complicated details and document requirements for a long-term, successful mortgage modification,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America. “The support from The Rockefeller Foundation will improve the work of nonprofit organizations that have been slowed by a paper-based system and inefficient mortgage modification delivery process. As a result of these investments, counselors will be able to serve homeowners at risk of foreclosure more efficiently and effectively.”

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Actress Alfre Woodward and Actor Wendell Pierce Join NeighborWorks in Celebrating a Rebuilding Effort in New Orleans

The Pontchartrain Park area of New Orleans was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the pace of recovery had been extremely slow. But thanks in part to NeighborWorks’ Gulf Coast partner Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corporation (PPCDC), residents now have an opportunity to rebuild their community and return home.

On May 14, PPCDC celebrated completion of the first of 250 homes it plans to reconstruct in the area. The organization is headed by Wendell Pierce, the actor from HBO shows Treme and The Wire, who is from New Orleans and was raised in Pontchartrain Park. He took on the task of assembling the development team and partners to make his dream of redeveloping the housing in the area a reality. One of those partners is NeighborWorks America, who provided $200,000 in grants to PPCDC to fund the pre-development expenses associated with the project.

At the May 14 event, Pierce thanked NeighborWorks for stepping out and providing the initial pre-development funding. “When others said no, NeighborWorks said yes and we are sincerely thankful to them as a valued partner,” said Pierce.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters and actress Alfre Woodward also attended the celebration. Congresswoman Waters has visited New Orleans several times post Katrina to make sure resources promised by the government are delivered to the area. She thanked NeighborWorks America for the work it is doing in creating and preserving homeownership, not only in New Orleans, but across the nation.

NeighborWorks America Named a Top Builder by Builder Magazine

NeighborWorks America was named one of the nation’s largest residential home builders, according to Builder Magazine’s 2009 Builder 100 list. NeighborWorks America debuted on the 2009 Builder 100 list at No. 82, with 302 units of for-sale housing completed by its network of local NeighborWorks organizations.

“We are excited to be recognized for the work of our homebuilding network organizations. Even in the worst housing market since the Great Depression, local nonprofits are revitalizing their communities with new affordable and green for-sale housing, and preparing homebuyers for long-term homeownership,” said Thomas P. Deyo, deputy director of National Initiatives and Applied Research at NeighborWorks America. “NeighborWorks organizations not only build homes, we build communities.”

Learn more in the NeighborWorks Newsroom.

New Video for Homebuyers Available from NeighborWorks UNHS HomeOwnership Center

Those in the market to buy a home for the first time are often unsure about the home inspection process. In this video, Julie Jalowiec and George Acee with UNHS HomeOwnership Center in New York, provide homebuyers with some insight about what the professionals look for. It is the fourth in the center's educational series about homeownership and the home buying process.

If you are unable to view the video below, it is available online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8eAFJnbUAQ.

Fox News Interviews NeighborWorks COO Eileen Fitzgerald About the New Foreclosure Prevention Campaign

NeighborWorks America COO Eileen Fitzgerald was interviewed on FOX 5 Morning News about the new foreclosure prevention campaign launched yesterday by NeighborWorks America and the Advertising Council. Fitzgerald urged homeowners facing foreclosure to beware of scams and to seek help from the right people — HUD-approved housing counselors. The interview can be viewed at : http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/money/non-profit-offers-foreclosue-help-051310.