$39M in grants to help families' housing needs
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
By The Quad City Times | Friday, September 29, 2006 |
About 850,000 families will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep the homes they have because of more than $39 million in housing counseling grants announced Thursday by Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
United Neighbors Inc., Davenport, will receive $51,121 for Comprehensive Counseling: A HUD-certified local housing counseling agency for five years, United Neighbors uses HUD funding to provide post-purchase mortgage, delinquency prevention, and HECM counseling. The agency also offers pre-purchase homebuyer education counseling. United Neighbors primarily serves citizens of Scott County and also offers programs in youth development, neighborhood watch and improvement, AmeriCorps national service, and heath education.
These grants will assist families in becoming first-time homeowners or remaining homeowners after their purchase. Renters and homeless individuals and families will also benefit from the counseling offered by the grants. Grants were awarded to 17 national and regional organizations and more than 400 state and local housing counseling agencies.
National and regional agencies distribute much of the HUD funding to community-based grass-roots organizations that provide advice and guidance to low- and moderate-income families seeking to improve their housing conditions. In addition, these larger organizations help improve the quality of housing counseling services and enhance coordination among other counseling providers.
Of the more than $39 million in housing counseling grants, $3 million is being awarded in supplemental funding for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage counseling. These funds will provide counseling for the rapidly growing number of elderly homeowners who seek to convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs, and other living expenses.
The organizations that provide housing counseling services help people become or remain homeowners or find rental housing. Grant recipients help homebuyers and homeowners realistically evaluate their readiness for a home purchase, understand their financing and downpayment options, and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process.
HUD awards annual grants under the housing counseling program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants must be HUD-approved and are subject to biennial performance reviews to maintain their HUD-approved status.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
redditMore Stories By The Quad City Times
» More Local Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Technology News Articles
- Computers, MP3, Phones & More. See Product Pics, Specs & Reviews.
- www.NexTag.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Promoter's Arsenal - Article Equalizer
- Content Generator For Your Website. One-time fee, today only $97.00.
- promotearsenal.com/article
- Ads by Yahoo!
