NeighborWorks Salutes Eight Resident Leaders for Contributions to Their Communities

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Last night, NeighborWorks America recognized eight resident leaders who have made significant contributions in communities across the country. Each of these volunteers has made a difference in the lives of many through their activism, community building and service to their neighbors. NeighborWorks America thanks these individuals for their steadfast commitment to strengthening their neighborhoods.

The 2010 Winners of the Dorothy Richardson Resident Leadership Award are:

• Victor Aguilar, who organized youth graffiti offenders in his hometown of Oxnard, California, to clean up the neighborhood and paint murals
• Linda Allen Miller, who is a tireless advocate for her community, serving on a dozen local boards and committees to spur investment and development in Birmingham, Alabama.
• Jesse Clayton, who led a team of volunteers to reclaim a park that had turned into a drug hangout, and convert it to a skate park.
• Tammy Hoth, who refused to let the trailer park where she lives in Great Falls, Montana to be sold. She mobilized her neighbors to organize into a resident association, applied for grant funds to purchase the property, and today the former trailer park is about to be turned into Mountain Springs Villa, a beautiful subdivision, with Tammy as its president.
• Paul Lopez, who brought investment and business opportunities to the community where he grew up in Chicago, Illinois, including a multi-million dollar banking facility that also houses the first bilingual NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center.
• Marron, McCleod, who has managed the Cornhill Community Garden for more than 20 years, bringing increased opportunities in education, innovation, restoration, feeding the hungry, green lifestyle and youth engagement to his community of Utica, NY.
• Emily MacRae, the quintessential consensus builder whose leadership on the board of directors of Twin Cities CDC in Fitchburg, MA helped forge partnerships among elected officials, business leaders and community residents.
• Dave Pottinger, who has devoted untold time and talent to revitalizing Goshen, IN, focusing not only on bricks and mortar, but on the people who live and work in his buildings.

This year’s honorees exemplify the commitment to community service and to helping others that is championed by NeighborWorks America and its national network. Congratulations to each of them for winning the 2010 Dorothy Richardson Resident Leadership Award!

NeighborWorks Reaches Out to Hispanic Homeowners Affected by Foreclosure and Loan Modification Scammers

The New England District of NeighborWorks America recently joined with MassHousing and the Rhode Island Loan Modification Scam Campaign to sponsor a live foreclosure and Loan Modification Scam Alert news program and hotline with WUNI Univision Television and WUTF Telefutura in Needham, Massachusetts. Univision News Anchor Sara Suarez posed some challenging questions to NeighborWorks America’s Fiona O’Connor, manager, Internal and Network Communications, about the proliferation of loan scam companies targeting Hispanic homeowners facing mortgage default or foreclosure.

The program aired live in three regional Univision television markets airing in four states – Southern New Hampshire; Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island. Eight foreclosure counselors from four NeighborWorks organizations: NOAH, Lawrence Community Works, Oak Hill CDC and its affiliate NeighborWorks Homeownership Center of Worcester (MA) and NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley answered nearly 70 calls in two hours from the six open lines at Univision Television. Hispanic families reported paying between $700 and $10,000 to loan scam companies for mortgage modifications which for some families led to foreclosure and eviction.

NeighborWorks America and partners launched the Loan Modification Scam Alert Campaign one year ago to empower homeowners to protect themselves against loan modification scams, find trusted help and report illegal activity to authorities. So far, over 59 million people have been exposed to the signs of a loan modification scam and over 6,000 courageous people have reported scams to authorities.

As the holiday season nears, the campaign has made a holiday e-card available to help homeowners protect one of their most precious treasures - their home. The card is available in English (http://www.loanscamalert.org/holiday-ecard.aspx) and Spanish (http://www.alertafraudedehipoteca.org/holiday-ecard.aspx).

Small Business Gets Boost from NeighborWorks Micro-Loan and Small Business Programs

Entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to start or incrementally expand their business should look to selected NeighborWorks local community development nonprofit organizations for a variety of financial and consulting assistance as these organizations plan to strategically support economic development by offering micro and small commercial business loans in 2011.

While not available throughout the NeighborWorks network, organizations from Long Island, NY to Austin, Texas and Lexington, KY and many others are honing their plans and tapping into new resources so that budding entrepreneurs and small businesses can create jobs in their communities.

"NeighborWorks organizations have housing at their core, but as a network we recognize that without a strong and diverse community economic base, sustainable housing solutions for families are extremely difficult,” said Eileen Fitzgerald, chief operating officer of NeighborWorks America.

One organization that is making a difference both in housing and business lending is Community Ventures Corp (CVC), a Lexington-based member of the NeighborWorks network for ten years. CVC recently received $605,000 in grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture out of a competitive process so that it could provide financial and technical assistance and training to rural micro-entrepreneurs.

In fact, CVC is the largest micro-enterprise business lender in the Small Business Administration system, making business loans as small as $500. Kevin Smith, president and CEO of CVC said, “Small businesses are having a tough time right now securing the capital they need to grow and create jobs. We’re excited by the opportunity to partner with small business and help these businesses and the communities they’re in become stronger.”

Another NeighborWorks organization that successfully mixes homeownership efforts with business development is BCL of Texas, an Austin-based nonprofit. BCL’s name literally means Business & Community Lenders and it has been helping small businesses grow for 20 years.

By offering a menu of free services to budding and existing business owners such as free business financial analysis, free business loan underwriting and no-cost loan structuring, BCL is a cost-conscious entrepreneur’s go-to resource. Also active in SBA lending, BCL has facilitated more than $200 million in SBA and other lending. Recently BCL was named administrator of the Balch Springs Micro Loan Fund, a $100,000 business development fund, and it also received a $605,000 grant from the USDA to provide financial and technical assistance to rural-based small businesses.

“Microloans make an important difference for a range of businesses,” said AR Ruiz, Director of Lending at BCL. “Small businesses traditionally account for the bulk of new jobs and we’re enthusiastic about doing our part and keeping our fingers on the pulse of the economy in our community.”

Back east, NeighborWorks network member Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDCLI) sets a high, but accessible standard with its small business and microloan programs.

CDCLI also is a SBA lender and one of the more active in the region. Qualified borrowers can obtain loans as small as $1,000. Perhaps most interesting about the CDCLI effort is its childcare loan program, helping to finance daycare centers and qualifying in-home care facilities.

“The economics of today are clear – more households are two-wage earner families and to make that happen families need safe and affordable daycare,” said CDCLI President and CEO Marianne Garvin. “By helping to finance quality daycare, we simultaneously support small business and hard working families.”

For more information, contact Doug Robinson, 202-220-2360, drobinson@nw.org .

Home and Family Energy-Saving Tips for Consumers

As the days grow colder and consumers gear up for another winter, many are looking for ways to beat the season’s high monthly energy costs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average U.S. household spends about $1,900 per year on home utility bills. With so much of a consumer’s monthly income spent on energy this winter, NeighborWorks America urges consumers to reduce their utility costs by weatherizing their homes this winter.

“There are several measures that homeowners and renters can take to control, or lower, their monthly utility bills. Adding insulation, purchasing new appliances, and even making small changes in your family’s energy consumption can add up to big monthly savings this winter, and every season,” said Michelle Winters, senior manager of Green Strategies at NeighborWorks America.

As part of NeighborWorks’ commitment to go green, we are offering families these tips to reduce energy costs and increase energy efficiency.

Loan Scam Alert Campaign Reaches Millions of New York Residents With DMV Partnership

New Yorkers visiting their local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office will now be alerted to the dangers of loan modification scams through a poster campaign at DMV offices in each of New York's 62 counties. The poster, developed by the national Loan Scam Alert public awareness campaign and distributed in partnership with the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, the NYS Consumer Protection Board and NeighborWorks America, warns homeowners of the three top signs of loan scams and directs them to loanscamalert.org and 888.995.4673 for information and assistance.

Approximately 10 million customers visit DMV offices every year, providing an unprecedented opportunity to help protect New Yorkers from falling victim to scams. Although the state’s foreclosure rate has consistently been in the middle range nationally, New York State ranks second in the number of homeowners who report being victimized by scammers.

“I am pleased that the DMV is able to assist the Consumer Protection Board in making the public more aware of potential loan modification scams,” said DMV Commissioner David J. Swarts. “It is our hope that increasing public awareness about the warning signs that a loan modification proposal may be a scam will result in fewer New Yorkers putting their homes in jeopardy.”

The NYS Consumer Protection Board, under the leadership of Chairperson and Executive Director Mindy Bockstein, has actively promoted the Loan Scam Alert campaign since it was launched a year ago, helping to bring its key messages to homeowners through a series of events, press conferences and media interviews. The Consumer Protection Board’s logo appears on each of the posters.

“The current economic climate has provided fertile ground for con artists who seek to take advantage of desperate and distressed homeowners,” said Bockstein. “That’s why we’re partnering on this campaign and eliciting help from key organizations like the Department of Motor Vehicles to alert New Yorkers to the dangers of loan modification scams. If you’re having difficulty meeting your mortgage obligations and are facing foreclosure, be mindful of the red flags and aggressive tactics that may indicate suspicious activities. We urge you to access free foreclosure counseling services instead of going to a for-pay company which may actually accelerate foreclosure by making big promises but doing little or no work, redirecting mortgage payments or taking title to your home.”

The top three signs of a loan modification scam are:

• A company or individual asking for a fee in advance
• A company or individual who guarantees they can modify a loan
• A company or individual who asks that you stop paying your mortgage and pay them instead

Scammers typically charge several thousand dollars, and then do little or no work, leaving homeowners even further behind. Homeowners believe their case is being resolved and only learn from their mortgage company that no contact has been made on their behalf. By then the scammers have long disappeared.

“Knowledge is the best defense against loan modification scams,” said Deborah Boatright, northeast district director, NeighborWorks America. ”With the help of our partners at the NYS Consumer Protection Board and the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, New Yorkers throughout the state are more aware of the dangers of scams and know where to go for free, trustworthy assistance.”