Third HOPE Awards Winners are the Best of the Best in Minority Homeownership

A homeownership education and credit counselor serving first generation Haitian immigrants, a classroom program teaching homeownership skills to middle school students, and a California coalition that houses migrant workers groups by joining10 to12 families together to build each other’s homes are three of the six winners of the third HOPE Awards announced today.

Also honored by the national awards program are a Los Angeles area real estate broker who publishes his listings in Chinese to serve first-generation Asian immigrants; an Illinois partnership that is turning minority renters in Quincy, Ill., into homeowners with low interest, 2-percent down loans; and a Dallas homeownership counselor who has demystified the buying process for more than 9,000 Hispanic families and built over 400 homes.

The HOPE Awards is a national industry awards program that recognizes up to seven individuals and organizations that are making outstanding contributions to increase minority homeownership in America.

Created in 2001, the HOPE Awards are granted every other year; they were begun by a partnership of six real estate organizations to identify and recognize the very best of these programs. Each winner receives a $10,000 honorarium. The 2005 HOPE Awards winners will be honored at a symposium at the National Press Club and at a gala dinner Tuesday, May 10, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., hosted by Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for the PBS daily news program, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

Winners of the 2005 HOPE Awards are:

• Brokerage Award. Allen Chiang of Presidential Real Estate Inc., Rowland Heights, Calif. Chiang has made a career of teaching the process of owning a home to Chinese immigrants. Presidential Real Estate consistently publishes monthly real estate magazines in Chinese.
• Education Award. Little Haiti Housing Association Inc. of Miami, Fla. LHHA provides extensive homeownership education and credit counseling to the residents of the Little Haiti community in northeast Miami. The majority of the residents whom LHHA serves are first generation Haitian immigrants with a minimal understanding of financial institutions, mortgage lending or credit. A significant proportion of the community is illiterate and speaks limited English. Families who have become homeowners through LHHA and partner organizations have maintained a zero percent default rate on their mortgages.
• Finance Award. Partnership for Homeownership Foundation of Springfield, Ill. The Foundation’s Quincy Initiative promotes greater minority homeownership by offering low-downpayment loans and debt counseling. The Quincy Initiative targeted a large section of Quincy, Ill., a predominantly minority section where one out of two homes were rentals and median income was less than 50 percent of the county median. All low interest loans require a downpayment of 2 percent of the purchase price. All applicants have been first-time homeowners.
• Leadership Award. Antonio Matarranz, Avangard Real Estate Services of Dallas. Antonio Matarranz, an architect and native of Barcelona, Spain, pioneered working with corporate entities in the Dallas area to help them recognize the need for affordable housing. He partnered with banks, mortgage lenders, insurance agencies and housing inspectors to help them to understand the cultural differences when working with the Hispanic population. He developed the first Dallas area seminar for first-time buyers and offered it free to the public. His classes have demystified the buying process for more than 9,000 families.
• Media Award. HOMEWORDS Program, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif. The Times’ “Times in Education” program reaches more than 114,000 middle- and high-school students and teachers to bring the HOMEWORDS program to students in and teachers of grades 7-12. The HOMEWORDS Program is an eight-week, newspaper-based program focusing on homeownership concepts and issues. Each market serves a diverse population.
• Project of the Year. Coachella Valley Housing Coalition of Indio, Calif. Under the supervision of the CVHC’s construction supervisors, families work together to build each other’s homes. The Self-Help homes are well-maintained, seldom sold and create neighborhoods that have a strong sense of community and pride. The desire of families to participate in the Self-Help Program is illustrated by the more than 10,000 pre-applications that have been received to date.