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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org
Local community groups deliver more than 35,000 signatures to campaign headquarters
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Frustrated by the lack of consideration both presidential candidates have given to resolving the housing crisis, advocates from local community centers in Chicago and Boston visited both President Barack Obama’s and Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign headquarters earlier today to demand that each candidate outline their plans to help underwater homeowners. Representatives from The Resurrection Project, the local chapter of the National Urban League, and NCLR (National Council of La Raza) in Chicago and the Center for Assistance to Families, Asian Community Development Corporation, Viet-AID, and NCLR in Boston delivered more than 35,000 signatures to each campaign asking that the candidates share their plans to:
- Stop needless foreclosures
- Expand affordable rental housing
- Revive a sustainable path to homeownership
“At best, the candidates have released vague sketches of what their housing policies may look like if elected, but that simply doesn’t cut it when millions of Americans have already lost their homes and millions more are facing foreclosure,” said Janis Bowdler, Director of the Wealth-Building Policy Project at NCLR. “The details make all the difference. And, quite frankly, homeowners don’t have the time or money to spare for our leaders to be indifferent on this issue.”
(To download photos of the event, please visit NCLR’s photo gallery.)
The signatures were collected as part of the national Home for Good campaign, which included a town hall tour across the country. Local and state legislators, housing policy experts and homeowners sat down to discuss the challenges that families are facing in the wake of the housing market collapse and the solutions that this country needs to keep the dream of homeownership alive. Today’s delivery coincides with tonight’s televised presidential debate, in this case a town forum, which will be the last opportunity both candidates have to address domestic issues during the presidential debates.
“We will not be able to fix the economy without getting the housing market back on track—the two go hand-in-hand,” added Bowdler. “So as much as voters need to know how the candidates plan to create jobs, they also need to know how they are going to keep families in their homes. It’s inexplicable that both candidates would ignore such a huge problem that directly impacts the economic recovery of this country.”
NCLR partnered with the Opportunity Agenda, National CAPACD, National Urban League, Kirwan Institute, Center for Responsible Lending, and National Fair Housing Alliance, among many other partners on the Home for Good campaign. For more information about the campaign, visit www.myhomeforgood.com.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
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