Bush Administration Awards $25 Million in 'Sweat Equity' Grants to Help Low-Income Families Become Homeowners
27 October 2003 - 6:12PM
PR Newswire (US)
Bush Administration Awards $25 Million in 'Sweat Equity' Grants to
Help Low-Income Families Become Homeowners New Home Sales Exceed
One Million for Seventh Month in a Row WASHINGTON, Oct. 27
/PRNewswire/ -- They work for their 'American Dream' by
contributing at least 200 hours of their own labor to help make a
house their home. More than 2,400 low-income families will become
homeowners because of $25 million in "sweat equity" grants
announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel
Martinez. Meanwhile, HUD and the Census Bureau today released data
showing that new home sales rose in September to the third highest
rate on record. An estimated 1.145 million new homes were sold last
month -- an increase of 8.3 percent from September of last year.
Today's figures represent the seventh consecutive month home sales
exceeded one million. The funding announced today is provided
through HUD's Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP)
that employs the power of volunteerism, the experience of tradesmen
and the hard work of applicants themselves to increase
homeownership. President Bush is proposing to significantly
increase funding of HUD's SHOP program next year to $65 million,
signaling his commitment to increase minority homeownership by 5.5
million families by the end of the decade. "Families who invest of
themselves to become homeowners are the real winners," said
Martinez. "With a hammer, some nails and a little elbow grease,
thousands of families will now be able to help themselves discover
their own American Dream." Three national or regional organizations
will be awarded these grants to help families build or rehabilitate
their own homes: Habitat for Humanity International $13,233,636
Housing Assistance Council $ 7,998,213 Northwest Regional
Facilitators $ 3,854,026 Total $25,085,875 SHOP grants are used to
purchase land and make infrastructure improvements, primarily in
the construction of new homes. By contributing time and their own
labor, families join volunteers and contractors to construct or
rehabilitate their homes. HUD's SHOP grants are competitively
awarded based upon an organization's experience in managing a
sweat-equity program. Other factors include identifying its
community's needs, generating other sources of funding and the
soundness of its program design. For more information on the SHOP
program, visit
http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/affordablehousing/programs/shop/index.cfm.
The release of new home sales today is also evidence of continued
strength in the U.S. housing sector. "Today's new home sales report
clearly demonstrates this Administration's commitment to making it
easier for more families to realize the dream of homeownership,"
explained Martinez. "The President's housing initiatives will help
more Americans, particularly minorities, to achieve that dream."
HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing
homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable
housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the
homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with
AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community
development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws.
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the
Internet at http://www.hud.gov/. SUMMARY OF FY 2003 SELF-HELP
HOMEOWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM (SHOP) AWARDS Habitat for
Humanity International $13,233,636 Habitat for Humanity
International (HFHI) is a national nonprofit organization that will
use SHOP funds in urban, suburban, and rural areas to facilitate
and encourage innovative homeownership opportunities through the
provision of self-help housing. SHOP funds will be used to purchase
land and make necessary infrastructure improvements, primarily in
support of new construction. Local affiliates will compete for SHOP
funding from HFHI on a national basis. Completed properties will be
transferred to homebuyers who contribute a significant amount of
sweat equity, in addition to other volunteer labor, toward the
construction of the house. HFHI will produce a minimum of 1,324
housing units. Housing Assistance Council $7,998,213 Housing
Assistance Council (HAC) is a national nonprofit organization that
plans to use SHOP funds in primarily rural areas for land
acquisition and infrastructure improvements that support new
construction. A portion of the SHOP award will be used for
administration, planning and management development. Local
organizations developing self-help housing will compete for SHOP
funding from HAC on a regional basis in order to achieve a national
distribution of funds. Each local organization is permitted to
custom design how it will use the funds in compliance with SHOP
requirements. The homebuyer must contribute a significant amount of
sweat equity toward the construction of the house. HAC will produce
a minimum of 742 housing units. Northwest Regional Facilitators
$3,854,026 Northwest Regional Facilitators (NRF) is a regional
nonprofit organization located in Bremerton, Washington, serving
primarily the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. NRF
and 26 local participating affiliates will use SHOP funds to
purchase land and make necessary infrastructure improvements for
construction of new housing. A portion of this SHOP award will be
used for administration, planning and management development. Each
local organization is permitted to custom design how it will use
the funds in compliance with SHOP requirements. The homebuyer must
contribute a significant amount of sweat equity toward the
construction of the house. NRF will produce a minimum of 346
housing units. DATASOURCE: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development CONTACT: Brian Sullivan of the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, +1-202-708-0685, ext. 7527 Web site:
http://www.hud.gov/ http://www.hud.gov/news/index.cfm
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