Community 2020 Forum

Dear Friend:

Please join me for the next Community 2020 forum, "The Challenge of Community Across the Americas," on July 20, 1999. This Community 2020 will be our first session that looks at some of the international housing and urban development challenges we share with other nations. Our featured guest will be Mexican Secretary of Social Development Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, who has been successfully working to improve the housing conditions of millions of Mexicans since he assumed the position of Secretary in May 1998. The forum will be held at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW, at 5:00 p.m.

The Community 2020 series brings together dynamic leaders to explore the future of America's communities and regions: where they are headed, and what they will be like in the next 25 years and beyond. We focus on tough issues facing neighborhoods and families today and discuss ways we can better prepare them to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Secretary Moctezuma and I will focus our discussions on some of the challenges the United States and Mexico share as they work to improve the living conditions of communities and families throughout their nations. In particular, the presentations will focus on how the United States and Mexico already collaborate in improving conditions along the border, how the housing finance systems are developing and evolving in the United States and Mexico, and the ways in which self-help strategies for home building are increasing the opportunities for low-income home ownership. From the borderland Colonias to Chiapas and beyond, these creative self-help strategies are increasingly vital tools for building communities as we build homes. This is the eighth in the series of Community 2020 seminars. Previous seminars have included discussions on: Jobs and the Economy; Race; Fair Housing; Public Safety; Education; Homelessness; and Appalachia.

Because seating is limited, please RSVP to 202-708-5029 or 800-647-4963, no later than close of business on Friday, July 16th. Please make plans to arrive early as the doors will open at 4:15p.m. I hope you will be able to join us for this very special Community 2020 session.

Sincerely,



Andrew Cuomo