MARTINEZ, PATAKI AWARD $400,000 TO PROMOTE HOMEOWNERSHIP

MOUNT VERNON, NY - Low-income families trying to save money for a downpayment on a home in Westchester County will now find their task a little easier, thanks to a grant announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and New York State.

HUD Secretary Mel Martinez and Governor George Pataki today awarded Community Housing Innovations, a local non-profit housing organization based in White Plains, with a $400,000 grant that it will use to help families make a downpayment. The grant to CHI was part of a larger package of more than $433.7 million in HUD housing and economic development aid to New York.

The two men met at the home of Diane Brown, a Mount Vernon resident who recently purchased her own home using funds from HUD's HOME program.

"This program is meant for families like the Browns, people who work hard, and do whatever they need to do to build a better life for themselves and their families. I am committed to working with Gov. Pataki to provide the tools needed help more New Yorkers live the American dream." Martinez said.

In addition to funding from its HOME program, Martinez said that HUD funding will come from:

• Community Block Development Grants, which provide flexible funding so that communities can meeting housing and economic development needs;
• Emergency Shelter Grants for emergency and transitional housing, which are distributed by formula; and
• HOPWA Grants, which provide housing for people with AIDS.

"Thanks to HUD and Secretary Martinez, the American dream of home ownership remains strong throughout the Empire State," Pataki said. "Through our Housing Trust Fund, we are able to work with local, grass-roots groups like CHI to help New Yorkers like Diane Brown to realize their dream."

Brown, a former Bronx housing project resident, like many Americans was unable to come up with a downpayment. She applied for home buyer assistance under CHI's program and received $25,000 for the downpayment as well as counseling in buying a home.

CHI, founded in 1991, and its subsidiaries assist low and moderate income households in all aspects of the development and purchase of housing. CHI administers a down payment grant program, a rehabilitation loan program and counseling services for first-time homebuyers. To date, CHI has received more than $2.4 million for its programs in Westchester and Suffolk Counties, and has used State HOME funds to help 64 low-income families, and is expected to assist another 75.

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