Housing Partners Announce Multi-faceted Faith-Based Effort to Expand Homeownership and Revitalize Communities in Wheeling

Business Wire, Dec 1, 2004

WHEELING, W. Va. -- New Housing Non-profit to Begin Rehabilitation of "Old 14th Street"

Wheeling Mayor Nick Sparachane and the leadership of Hopeful Housing Corporation yesterday joined a wide-range of community leaders and housing partners who all share the determination to revitalize the community and help more Wheeling families become first-time homeowners. Hopeful Housing Corporation, a new nonprofit community development corporation based in Wheeling, unveiled a strategic multi-faceted faith-based homeownership initiative with the support of the Community Homebuyer Investment Partnership (CHIP), Wesbanco, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE:PMI), and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM), the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages.

Hopeful Housing Corporation announced a plan to rehabilitate and revitalize a one-block area on 14th Street from Jacob to Wood Street in East Wheeling known as the "Old 14th Street Project." The revitalization will increase historic preservation and help create more homes for the community. Hopeful Housing, a nonprofit community development corporation, was created by Hopeful City, an organization of 28 local churches and faith-based groups devoted to encouraging revitalization and community involvement of the neighborhoods in the city of Wheeling. Following yesterday's announcement, Hopeful Housing hosted a fund raising event for the Old 14th Street Project at the West Virginia Catholic Heritage Center.

Also yesterday, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. announced that it has established a partnership with Hopeful Housing Corporation as part of PMI's Gateway Cities Initiative that provides revolving funds to underserved communities across the United States. PMI has dedicated $100,000 and Fannie Mae has contributed $25,000 to establish a revolving fund for the rehabilitation program in the East Wheeling area.

"I'm pleased to see this comprehensive approach to expanding homeownership for low- and moderate-income families in Wheeling," said Mayor Sparachane. "The East Wheeling community will be strengthened through homeownership education and the revitalization of 14th Street."

"East Wheeling has the potential to rehabilitate a magnificent old Victorian neighborhood and at the same time provide affordable housing for current residents and new neighbors," said Father Larry Dorsch, board president of Hopeful Housing Corporation. "Thanks to the efforts of the partners, Wheeling families can learn about the opportunities of homeownership and how to prepare themselves for this important step toward greater financial stability."

Through the faith-based homeownership initiative, Hopeful Housing will work with participating churches to host seminars on the importance of homeownership and preparing to become a homeowner. This educational effort will begin in the East Wheeling neighborhood, an area where predominantly African-American churches have been working on housing issues for several years. The first homeownership workshop to kick-off the series of local seminars will be held on January 29, 2005 at Agape Baptist Church and will be sponsored by Wesbanco.

The Community Homebuyer Investment Partnership and Family Services Consumer Credit Counseling will provide the homeownership education classes and credit counseling to prepare Wheeling residents to become home buyers. Both organizations will use Fannie Mae's Home Counselor Online(TM), the company's Web-based software tool that makes available the full range of homeownership counseling services and assists the counselors in managing their classes and caseload.

"Preparing people for homeownership through education is critical to any successful housing initiative and is required by many first-time homebuyer programs," said Lisa Beall, vice president of CHIP. "We are proud to provide this important service to the community."

The West Virginia Housing Development Fund (WVHDF) will provide affordable mortgage products for home loans through their participating lenders, including Wesbanco.

Hopeful Housing is working with partners to rehabilitate "Old 14th Street." The project will focus on this particular block due to the momentum of redevelopment in the area. In 2002, Urban Design Associates created the East Wheeling Redevelopment Plan and in 2003 the City of Wheeling made extensive improvements in the area including updating sewers and sidewalks. The Old 14th Street Project will focus on historic preservation and creating more affordable homes.

The $125,000 in revolving funds under PMI's Gateway Cities Initiative will be available to Hopeful Housing for support of housing rehabilitation in the Old 14th Street Project. As a Gateway partner, Hopeful Housing will have access to this capital to purchase and rehabilitate existing housing stock that will then be available for first-time home buyers to purchase. As each project is completed, the fund is reimbursed with proceeds of the sale, providing an opportunity to start the next project. The Gateway Cities Initiative is part of a national "Gateway to Homeownership in a New Century" alliance between PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. and Fannie Mae. Also, the city of Wheeling will provide $92,000 in Northern Panhandle Home Consortium funds to begin the revitalization project and the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling donated $10,000 to Hopeful Housing for the effort. The Vandalia Heritage Foundation will offer technical assistance on the plans and specifications for the rehab work on historic structures in the East Wheeling neighborhood.