FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
jrendeiro@nclr.org
(202) 776-1566
Washington, D.C.—Homeownership is the cornerstone of the American Dream, but as the U.S. observes National Homeownership Month this June, far too many Americans are seeing their visions of ownership or affordable renting slip away. With more Americans falling out of the middle class every day and workers struggling to support their families and keep their jobs, the American Dream is increasingly at risk. The obstacles are especially high and unequal for Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, women, the elderly and working-class families. For example, one in six Latino and one in nine African American homeowners are at imminent risk of losing their homes or have already lost their homes to foreclosure. But clear solutions do exist, and it is time for the Obama administration and Congress to step up their efforts in specific ways.
Today, seven national civil rights and advocacy organizations―NCLR (National Council of La Raza), NAACP, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), National People’s Action, National Urban League, The Opportunity Agenda, and PICO National Network―are coming together to call on Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and other leaders in Congress to put an end to the housing crisis and begin restoring the American Dream for all Americans. Together these organizations offer the following statement:
“In honor of Homeownership Month, we urge Secretary Geithner to put our nation’s housing crisis back on the national agenda. The nation’s economic recovery relies heavily on stabilizing the housing market. We will not achieve this goal so long as families continue to experience wrongful foreclosures and sustainable homeownership opportunities are cut off for the next generation. As the Department of Treasury and other federal bank regulators consider policies that will shape the future home-lending market, they must prioritize solutions to foreclosure, end discrimination, invest in affordable housing, and protect the American Dream of homeownership.”
The seven partners are urging members of their communities to text HOME or HOGAR (for Spanish) to 62571 to be patched through to Secretary Geithner and deliver this message.