BUSH ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $37 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROMOTE HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HOUSING FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES
Kansas will receive $170,000 for housing counseling services that will benefit individuals and families

KANSAS CITY, KS - Nearly 730,000 individuals and families will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep the homes they have because of more than $37 million in housing counseling grants announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez.

It is estimated these grants will assist more than 430,000 people to either become first-time homeowners or remain homeowners after their purchase. The grants were awarded to 17 national and regional organizations and approximately 350 state and local housing counseling agencies. These organizations will provide counseling services and will help meet the Bush Administration's goal of increasing minority homeownership by 5.5 million families by the end of the decade.

"These housing counseling grants are an important part of this Administration's goal to expand homeownership opportunities, particularly for minorities," said Martinez. "President Bush and I are committed to opening the doors
to the American Dream to more American families."

In Kansas, the following three organizations will receive $170,000 in housing counseling grants:

• Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) in Salina will receive $45,000 to provide first-time homebuyer education classes on a monthly basis from February through September. In partnership with Boeing Wichita Credit Union, CCCS will provide monthly "Surviving a Layoff" workshops in Wichita, Kansas. The organization
  also provides rental counseling, mortgage default counseling and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counseling to 71 of 105 counties in the state of Kansas.
  
  
• Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc. (HCCI) in Topeka will receive $110,000 to provide tenant/landlord, homebuyer, consumer credit, mortgage default, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, and pre- and post occupancy counseling services through its offices in Lawrence, Manhattan and Emportia.
  
  
• Northeast Kansas Community Action Program (NEK-CAP) in Hiawatha will receive $15,000 to provide comprehensive housing counseling services to a ten county area in Northeast Kansas. NEK-CAP uses
  nationally recognized Total Family Approach to Self-Sufficiency Program to educate, enrich and uplift
  families and individuals.

The 17 national and regional agencies distribute much of the HUD funding to community-based grassroots organizations that provide free advice and guidance to low- and moderate-income families seeking to improve their housing conditions. In addition, these larger organizations help improve the quality of housing counseling services
and enhance coordination among other counseling providers. Notably, 3 of the 17 intermediaries are faith-based, including 2 that are first time housing counseling grant recipients.

President Bush is proposing to increase HUD's Housing Counseling grant program to $45 million next year - a 12.5 percent increase. The organizations that provide counseling services help people become or remain homeowners or find rental housing. In addition, HUD-funded housing counseling agencies assist homeless persons to find the transitional housing they need to move toward a permanent place to live.

Who benefits from housing counseling?

Based on past experience, HUD anticipates the counseling grants announced today will enable approximately
257,000 would-be homeowners to learn how to improve their credit, strengthen money management skills and avoid predatory lenders and other unscrupulous practices. Another 175,000 existing homeowners will learn how to avoid delinquency and default, restructure debt and maintain their home. In addition, nearly 213,000 individuals and
families who will receive HUD-funded counseling are renters. Counseling services will help them find housing closer to their jobs or health care as well as teach them about tenant rights. Finally, an estimated 16,000 homeless individuals and families will learn how to find emergency services and secure transitional housing.

HUD awards annual grants under this program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants
must be HUD-approved and are subject to biannual performance reviews to maintain their HUD-approved status.

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