Charities Win Federal Aid to Help Homeowners Facing Housing Crises

NeighborWorks America, a Washington charity that works to strengthen neighborhoods and boost homeownership, has been awarded a $180-million federal grant to help nonprofit groups and government agencies provide counseling services to homeowners facing foreclosure.

The money, part of an appropriations bill the President signed into law last month, will be available to organizations approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to serve as “housing counseling intermediaries.”

Those organizations—which include Catholic Charities USA and the National Urban League—can then channel the money to local organizations and affiliates to help them expand or develop counseling programs designed to keep homeowners from losing their homes to foreclosure.

Such programs educate mortgage holders about their options when they fall behind in their payments and, in some instances, can help homeowners negotiate a new payment plans with lenders.

The appropriation also allows NeighborWorks to spend as much as $5-million on its own efforts to train additional housing counselors nationwide. The charity is required to make regular reports to report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations as well as to the Senate Banking Committee on the status of their efforts to reduce mortgage foreclosures.

NeighborWorks has 60 days to distribute the first $50-million of the total and is currently determining what parts of the country face the highest need for assistance.

Many social-service groups say they have been struggling to provide such assistance, according to an article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.