FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org
Telephonic press conference examines the need for housing counseling and foreclosure solutions
Washington, D.C.—In today’s volatile housing market, millions of Americans, including communities of color, working families, and seniors, are facing the harsh reality that they can no longer afford their homes. But in the face of these dire economic conditions, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and six other leading civil rights and advocacy organizations—NAACP, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD), National People’s Action (NPA), National Urban League (NUL), The Opportunity Agenda, and PICO—are partnering in a call to action under NCLR’s Home for Good campaign to protect the American Dream of homeownership.
As Americans observe National Homeownership Month this June, NCLR’s Home for Good campaign is intensifying its calls for the Obama administration and Congress to address problems in the housing market that have stymied neighborhood revitalization and led to Americans losing their homes to foreclosure. Today, NCLR and its partners will send out an action alert inviting advocates in their individual networks to call on Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner to stop unnecessary foreclosures and protect affordable housing and home loans. 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.
“The housing crisis is still far from over and as a result, our national housing policy is at a crossroads. We are calling on the Treasury Department and other policy makers to keep the dream of homeownership alive for the next generation,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “Doing so means resolving the foreclosure crisis, especially for the unemployed, and ensuring that all qualified borrowers can get a responsible home loan now and in the future.”
Janis Bowdler, Director of the Wealth Building Project at NCLR, will host a telephonic press briefing today with Hilary Shelton, Washington Bureau Director and Senior Vice President for Advocacy, NAACP; Cy Richardson, Vice President, NUL; and Jane Duong, Housing Program Manager, National CAPACD. These representatives from our various partners will address the critical issues within the housing market that are costing so many Americans their homes and discuss how to best craft housing finance reform that keeps safe homeownership available.
To participate in today’s telephonic press conference at 1:00 p.m. EDT, please call (800) 862-9098 and use the program title—“Home for Good”—to check in.