Almost $120,000 in grants will support agency counseling programs
ALBANY, NY – January 11, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) has been awarded nearly $120,000 in housing counseling grants that will assist the agency to help individuals and families not only find housing, but will also offer them greater opportunities to keep their homes through counseling and training and to avoid loan modification scammers that are targeting millions of vulnerable populations.
OPWDD’s Office of Housing Initiatives and Supports provides pre-purchase/home buying, post-purchase non-delinquency, mortgage delinquency and foreclosure prevention, predatory lending and financial literacy counseling statewide. For 2011, the agency received $43,849.23 for comprehensive counseling programs and $70,000 for mortgage modification and mortgage scams assistance.
According to HUD, OPWDD was part of nearly $73 million that was awarded through HUD by the Obama Administration that will play a critical role in the nation’s housing recovery.
Housing counseling grants will assist people with developmental disabilities and/or their caregiver family members to become first-time homeowners and remain in their homes after their purchase. The grants will also assist direct care workers to purchase homes and will provide housing counseling to people with mental illness, as well. HUD-approved counseling agencies not only provide homeownership counseling, but also offer financial literacy training to renters. According to HUD, grant recipients also help homebuyers and homeowners realistically evaluate their readiness for a home purchase, understand their financing and down payment options and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process.
“OPWDD’s Office of Housing Initiatives and Supports has helped hundreds of the people we serve realize the dream of home ownership by helping them purchase – and stay in – the homes of their choice” said OPWDD Acting Commissioner Max E. Chmura. “This grant will provide greater opportunities for the agency to provide more person-centered and individualized supports and services that forwards its mission of helping individuals with developmental disabilities live richer lives.”
OPWDD hosts housing counseling offices throughout the state; most notable is the Downstate Office in New York City, which is fully-staffed by HUD-certified housing counselors with developmental disabilities – the first such office in the nation.
For more information about OPWDD’s Office of Housing Initiatives and the programs offered, contact Lucinda Grant-Griffin, Ph.D., at 518-473-1973.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Herm Hill, Director of Communications, OPWDD
Nicole Weinstein, Director of Public Information, OPWDD
518-474-6601
