ashbeeigh
10-16-2009, 09:42 AM
So if this is true...I may need y'alls help with another job hunt. But fingers crossed and prayers answered that things end up okay. Things are still intact in many cities. Philadelphia is just the focus of the article.
ACORN Starts To Feel Funding Freeze
by Pam Fessler
Enlarge Pam Fessler/NPR
Housing counselors at ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office have to refer clients to attorneys for legal help because the group isn't providing that service as long as its funding is frozen.
ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office
Pam Fessler/NPR
Housing counselors at ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office have to refer clients to attorneys for legal help because the group isn't providing that service as long as its funding is frozen.
text sizeAAA
October 16, 2009
Federal funding has been temporarily stopped for the community group ACORN and its affiliates, and some people worry that worthwhile programs could be affected.
The move comes after a scandal involving videotapes showing ACORN workers telling a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute how to evade the law.
In the undercover videos, ACORN workers throughout the country dished out some very sketchy advice. But in ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office, the scene is a million miles from the one seen in the videos, which were made by a conservative activist. ACORN Housing Corporation, an ACORN spin-off, offers free housing counseling to low- and moderate-income homebuyers.
What you see here instead are several young women with yellow case files piled high on their desks trying to help poor people save their homes.
Housing counselor Lianna Crosby talks with client Shawn Drayton about an upcoming mediation session at the city court. He's trying to avoid losing his grandfather's house to a bad mortgage deal. But Crosby says there's been a last-minute change. She has to refer him to a different attorney for legal help because ACORN Housing won't be able to provide that service as long as its funding is frozen. Congress has blocked, at least until the end of this month, most of the money ACORN Housing relies upon to do its work
Some lawmakers say they want to make the cutoff permanent.
The housing group is a major recipient of grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It also received almost $24 million over the past two years for a foreclosure mitigation counseling program created by Congress.
'I Just Couldn't Afford It'
Bruce Dorpalen oversees counseling at ACORN Housing offices around the country.
"We have a little bit of resources to keep going, but if this can't get resolved in a decent way, we would have to lay off staff, not be able to serve clients," Dorpalen says.
Clients such as Fred Butler, a retiree, who came here for some free help, could be affected.
Butler admits he made a big mistake when he got a balloon mortgage payment on his Philadelphia home.
"I just couldn't afford it. And it was just too much," Butler says.
But when he tried to pull out of the deal during a three-day grace period, his mortgage broker was nowhere to be found. ACORN Housing has worked with the lender to negotiate a more palatable deal that will keep Butler in his home.
ACORN's critics say the organization has misused federal funds and have called for multiple investigations. But neither HUD nor NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit that administers the foreclosure counseling grants, have reported any problems with ACORN Housing.
"They've been one of the highest performing organizations so in that regard we have not had any concerns about their performance under this program," says Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America. "But like everyone else, we were concerned with the videos we saw on television."
He says NeighborWorks is reviewing its contract with ACORN Housing to make sure none of the terms have been violated. Wade adds that if the funding cuts become permanent, it will be a challenge finding other groups to take over the thousands of foreclosure cases now being handled by ACORN Housing.
whole article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113809460)
ACORN Starts To Feel Funding Freeze
by Pam Fessler
Enlarge Pam Fessler/NPR
Housing counselors at ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office have to refer clients to attorneys for legal help because the group isn't providing that service as long as its funding is frozen.
ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office
Pam Fessler/NPR
Housing counselors at ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office have to refer clients to attorneys for legal help because the group isn't providing that service as long as its funding is frozen.
text sizeAAA
October 16, 2009
Federal funding has been temporarily stopped for the community group ACORN and its affiliates, and some people worry that worthwhile programs could be affected.
The move comes after a scandal involving videotapes showing ACORN workers telling a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute how to evade the law.
In the undercover videos, ACORN workers throughout the country dished out some very sketchy advice. But in ACORN Housing's North Philadelphia office, the scene is a million miles from the one seen in the videos, which were made by a conservative activist. ACORN Housing Corporation, an ACORN spin-off, offers free housing counseling to low- and moderate-income homebuyers.
What you see here instead are several young women with yellow case files piled high on their desks trying to help poor people save their homes.
Housing counselor Lianna Crosby talks with client Shawn Drayton about an upcoming mediation session at the city court. He's trying to avoid losing his grandfather's house to a bad mortgage deal. But Crosby says there's been a last-minute change. She has to refer him to a different attorney for legal help because ACORN Housing won't be able to provide that service as long as its funding is frozen. Congress has blocked, at least until the end of this month, most of the money ACORN Housing relies upon to do its work
Some lawmakers say they want to make the cutoff permanent.
The housing group is a major recipient of grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It also received almost $24 million over the past two years for a foreclosure mitigation counseling program created by Congress.
'I Just Couldn't Afford It'
Bruce Dorpalen oversees counseling at ACORN Housing offices around the country.
"We have a little bit of resources to keep going, but if this can't get resolved in a decent way, we would have to lay off staff, not be able to serve clients," Dorpalen says.
Clients such as Fred Butler, a retiree, who came here for some free help, could be affected.
Butler admits he made a big mistake when he got a balloon mortgage payment on his Philadelphia home.
"I just couldn't afford it. And it was just too much," Butler says.
But when he tried to pull out of the deal during a three-day grace period, his mortgage broker was nowhere to be found. ACORN Housing has worked with the lender to negotiate a more palatable deal that will keep Butler in his home.
ACORN's critics say the organization has misused federal funds and have called for multiple investigations. But neither HUD nor NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit that administers the foreclosure counseling grants, have reported any problems with ACORN Housing.
"They've been one of the highest performing organizations so in that regard we have not had any concerns about their performance under this program," says Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America. "But like everyone else, we were concerned with the videos we saw on television."
He says NeighborWorks is reviewing its contract with ACORN Housing to make sure none of the terms have been violated. Wade adds that if the funding cuts become permanent, it will be a challenge finding other groups to take over the thousands of foreclosure cases now being handled by ACORN Housing.
whole article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113809460)