Speaking at a "Houses Without Barriers" bilingual town hall meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, Secretary Martinez said that more Americans, particularly minorities, should have the opportunity to share in the American Dream of homeownership. Martinez spoke at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Monday, June 24. He visited the state as part of National Homeownership Month proclaimed by President Bush earlier this month.

At the town hall meeting, organized by HUD, Fannie Mae and the Homeownership Alliance, Martinez told prospective homebuyers that President Bush's fiscal 2003 budget request for HUD included programs to overcome the most common barriers encountered by minority families seeking to purchase their first home. The Secretary also noted the release of a "how-to guide" to help faith-based organizations to encourage homeownership opportunities, particularly among minority families. Ten Things Your Faith Community Can Do To Encourage Homeownership offers faith-based grassroots organizations an easy-to-read guide to promoting homeownership in their communities.

Homeownership among Hispanics nationally stands at 47.3 percent and at 47.7 percent for African-Americans, compared to 74.3 percent for the white, non-Hispanic, population.

"Last week, President Bush set a goal to help increase the number of minority homeowners by 5.5 million by the year 2010," Martinez said. "The Bush Administration is committed to raising the minority homeownership rate because homeownership strengthens families and communities, and is critical to the country's economic health."

To bridge the homeownership gap and achieve the President's goal for minority families, Martinez cited several Bush Administration initiatives including:

• the American Dream Downpayment Fund, aimed at helping 40,000 families each year with down payment costs, the most common barrier to minority homeownership;
• a tax credit for builders of single-family homes; and
• a housing counseling program to help families through the home buying process and to educate them against unscrupulous lenders.

Through his "American Homeownership Challenge," President Bush has encouraged the public and private sectors to join together in an effort to increase minority homeownership. Additionally, the Administration is proposing a total of $2.7 billion in initiatives that will help more than 333,000 low- and moderate-income families own their own homes.

Read the full news release.

Learn more about how HUD and faith-based and other community organizations can work more closely on homeownership and neighborhood renewal.

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The historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C. is known throughout America and the world as an important news forum. Each week, members of American and the international news media hear from key news and policy-makers on topics of interest to the nation.

Anyone may attend the Secretary's National Press Club address. Tickets, which include lunch, are $28 per person. Lunch will begin at 12:30 PM, and Secretary Martinez is scheduled to speak at approximately 1 PM. A Q&A period, with questions from the audience, will take place following the Secretary's formal remarks.

For reservations, contact Pat Nelson at the National Press Club, (202) 662-7539.