Thursday, July 23, 2009

NeighborWorks Organizations Apply for $938M in Neighborhood Stabilization Program Funding

Today NeighborWorks America announced that 48 NeighborWorks organizations with their local and regional partners are applying for $938 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds in the second round of competitive funding. More than eight million homes are expected to enter into foreclosure through 2012, which means millions of homes are likely to be left vacant and abandoned, deteriorating neighborhoods and destabilizing communities.

“The nation is faced with rapid downward pressure on neighborhoods that is unlike anything we have seen in generations. The crisis has not only affected our housing market, but our entire economy, and requires a response as intense and comprehensive as the challenge itself,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America.

A comprehensive response is exactly why many of the local NeighborWorks organizations have partnered with their state or local government, the private sector, and other nonprofit partners in applying for the second round of NSP funding.

Consortium partnerships that submitted applications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will likely be among the most competitive applicants for NSP 2 funds. Each partner brings their unique strengths and expertise in a variety of disciplines needed to effectively stabilize communities, including assembling capital, property acquisition, rehabilitation or demolition, homeownership education, land banking, and asset management. Nonprofit housing and community development organizations, government and private sector partners that combine their strengths will amplify their ability to transform the housing crisis into an opportunity to rebuild neighborhoods and create healthy, stable communities. These cross-sector partnerships will be most effective in navigating their community through the crisis.

For more information about NeighborWorks' community stabilization efforts, visit www.nw.org or visit www.stablecommunities.org.