HUD ANNOUNCES $205,000 IN HOUSING COUNSELING GRANTS TO FIVE HOUSING COUNSELING ORGANIZATIONS IN ARKANSAS
Arkadelphia, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff and Russellville Agencies Receive Awards

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas families facing foreclosure, seeking affordable rental housing, or hoping to buy their first
home will have a greater opportunity to find housing, or keep the homes they have, because of $205,240 in housing counseling grants announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (see attached list).

"Now, more than ever, it is crucial that Americans understand how to manage their money, how to navigate the homebuying process,and how to secure their financial future." said Donovan. "This critical funding will help
counseling organizations continue to assist families in making more informed choices before they buy a home and counsel families facing foreclosure."

Housing counseling grants will assist families in becoming first-time homeowners and remaining homeowners after
their purchase. HUD-approved counseling agencies not only provide homeownership counseling, but also offer
financial literacy training to renters and homeless individuals and families.

In addition, grantees help combat predatory lending by helping unwary borrowers review their loan documentation, and avoid unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and even foreclosure. And foreclosure prevention counseling helps homeowners facing delinquency or default to employ strategies, including expense reduction, negotiation with lenders and loan servicers, and loss mitigation that can avoid foreclosure. With foreclosures at
critical levels nationwide, these services are more important than ever.

The funding announced today is part of $60 million in housing counseling grants awarded nationwide. These grants
will support the direct provision of housing counseling services by 24 national and regional organizations, five multi-state organizations, and 463 state and local housing counseling agencies. In addition, HUD is awarding $5 million to three national organizations to train approximately 4,400 counselors who will receive the instruction and certification necessary to effectively assist families with their housing needs.

HUD awards annual grants under the housing counseling program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants must be HUD-approved and are subject to biennial performance reviews to maintain their HUD-approved status. Arkansas grantees are:

South Arkansas Community Development
Arkadelphia, AR
$42,724 - Comprehensive Counseling

South Arkansas Community Development (SACD) is a nonprofit organization designed and organized in December of 1999 with the primary mission of providing education and counseling to help low- and moderate-income families to achieve homeownership. SACD earned its designation as a HUD-approved housing counseling agency in March of
2002. Housing counseling services offered by SACD include the following: pre-purchase, post-purchase, and
mortgage delinquency/default/foreclosure counseling. SACD provides homebuyer education and financial literacy classes in English and Spanish. SACD serves South Arkansas, consisting of seven primary counties, and partners
with USDA Rural Development's Self-Help Housing Program, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, local
housing authorities throughout the seven counties, including those that promote Section 8 for homeownership, and provides Individual Development Accounts, a matched savings program for first-time homebuyers.

Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council
Fort Smith, AR
$28,740 - Comprehensive Counseling

Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council, Inc. (C-SCDC) is a nonprofit agency that was incorporated in 1965 and whose mission is to help low income families become more self sufficient through a variety of social
services and housing programs. C-SCDC is a HUD-approved counseling agency helping to make homeownership and affordable housing available to low- to moderate-income individuals and families in Crawford and Sebastian Counties. C-SCDC provides homebuyer education, pre-purchase and loan preparation counseling, mortgage default and delinquency prevention counseling, rental/homeless counseling, and reverse mortgage counseling to over 900 households per year. As a result of this counseling and of down payment assistance programs, 315 households obtained homeownership last year.

JURHA Housing and Community Development Organization
Jonesboro, AR
$42,724 - Comprehensive Counseling

The JURHA Housing and Community Development Organization (JURHA HCDO) received HUD approval as a housing counseling agency on January 31, 2007. The services provided by the agency include the following: mortgage delinquency and default resolution counseling, fair housing assistance, homebuyer education programs, loss
mitigation, money/debt management, pre-purchase counseling, post-purchase counseling, predatory lending, and renter assistance. The JURHA HCDO offers a "Mortgage Ready" program to enable individuals who may not be ready
for mortgage pre-approval to commit to a plan to become mortgage ready within 3 to 24 months. Certified staff has provided housing counseling services to the residents of Northeast Arkansas since November 2004. www.jurha.org

Southern Good Faith Fund
Pine Bluff, AR
$42,724 - Comprehensive Counseling
$9,100 - Loan Document Review Counseling

Southern Good Faith Fund (SGFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, that has a
mission to increase the incomes and assets of low-income and low-skilled residents of rural Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. SGFF is an affiliate of Southern Bancorp, a $740 million development bank holding company with a family of three local banks and three nonprofit development organizations. SGFF began in 1988 as a micro-loan program modeled after the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Over the years the organization evolved to include a multi-faceted approach. In the late 1990s, its strategies expanded beyond helping low-income families increase their incomes to a focus on asset development and homeownership. SGFF began offering Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) in 1999, and has since served more than 1,500 families with the matched-savings product. SGFF developed group training sessions as part of the IDA program and added in-depth one-on-one housing and credit counseling. SGFF's housing counseling program has served more than 878 people since its inception in 2007.

Universal Housing Development Corporation
Russellville, AR
$39,228 - Comprehensive Counseling

Universal Housing Development Corporation (UHDC) has been providing high-quality, housing-related services to the people of the Second and Third Congressional Districts of Arkansas since 1971. UHDC is a 501(c)(3) corporation organized under the direction of a community-based board of directors with a mission to promote adequate and affordable housing, economic opportunity, and a suitable living environment free from discrimination. UHDC offers a
full range of housing-related services from rental assistance, multi-family housing, comprehensive housing
counseling, and new home construction, to weatherization and several different homeowner rehabilitation programs. UHDC chartered with NeighborWorks® America in 2002. Helping others to meet their housing needs is a way of life
at UHDC. As a HUD-approved housing counseling agency since 1977, UHDC has been able to offer a full range of counseling services to its clients in Arkansas.

More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet and espanol.hud.gov.

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