Posted by:
Steve Dubb
CDFIs, community groups prominent among winners
Earlier this month, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) recognized seven community leaders and organizations for their outstanding work and extraordinary contributions to their communities. Among the award recipients were two community development financial institutions (CDFIs). Hope Enterprise Corporation—based in Jackson, MS—won the “James Leach” award for the best rural nonprofit of the year, while Boston Community Capital— based in Boston, MA—won the “James Rouse” award for the best urban nonprofit of the year. A third organization, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, won the Henry B. Gonzalez award (given for the most effective government or for-profit agency or partner) for its work on foreclosure mitigation in Pennsylvania.
A number of awards recognized outstanding efforts by individuals. Inez Killingsworth, founder of the Cleveland-based Empowering and Strengthening Oho’s People (ESOP), won the National Community Reinvestment Award for best exemplifying the ideals and values of economic justice for her work over two decades on behalf of homeowners facing foreclosure (ESOP helped save 3,200 homes from foreclosure in 2010 alone). Manuel “Manny” T. Gauna (posthumously) won the William Proxmire award (contribution to economic mobility) for his work on behalf of Tiempo, Inc., part of Chicanos Por La Causa, one of the nation’s leading community development corporations (CDCs). Economists Simon Johnson & James Kwak won the “Color of Money” award (best writing on economic justice) for their book 13 Bankers and filmaker Jean-Stephane Bron won the Community Empowerment Film Award for his documentary Cleveland v. Wall Street.
More background on the award winners, courtesy of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition:
Inez Killingsworth, Empowering and Strengthening Oho’s People (ESOP), Cleveland, OH
Recipient of the National Community Reinvestment Award
Founded in 1993 and taken statewide in 2008, ESOP has become a powerhouse foreclosure counseling agency – and organizing presence—in Ohio, with 8,000 families receiving help in 2009 in the nonprofit’s eleven Ohio offices. ESOP has a 75-percent success rate in negotiating resolutions for homeowners facing foreclosure. In 2010, ESOP reached more than 10,000 families in 2010 and saved more than 3,200 homes from foreclosure.
Manuel “Manny” T. Gauna, Tiempo, Inc., Phoenix, AZ
Recipient of the William H. Proxmire Award
From 1978 until his death in 2009, under his leadership Tiempo orchestrated projects that include office and specialty retail facilities, a computer training facility, single family homes, a 172 unit subdivision and numerous apartment and recreational complexes for low-income families, the elderly and handicapped. For twenty-five (25) years, he worked to improve and increase affordable housing for rural poor seniors, and families throughout communities in Arizona. Guana also worked with organizations in California, New Mexico, and Texas to increase safe and affordable housing for residents of these states that live in rural communities.
Hope Enterprise Corporation Jackson, MS
Recipient of the James Leach Award
Hope Enterprise Corporation is a financial institution, community development intermediary and policy center that provides affordable financial services; leverages private, public and philanthropic resources; and engages in policy analysis in order to fulfill its mission of strengthening communities, building assets, and improving lives in economically distressed parts of the Mid South. Since 1994, their efforts have generated over $1.4 billion in financing and benefited more than 75,000 individuals in the Delta, Katrina-affected areas and other distressed communities throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Boston Community Capital, Boston, MA
Recipient of the James Rouse Award
Boston Community Capital (BCC) is a community development financial institution whose mission is to build healthy communities where low-income people live and work. They accomplish this mission by investing in projects that provide affordable housing, good jobs, and new opportunities in low-income communities, connecting these neighborhoods to the mainstream economy. Since 1985, BCC has invested more than $550 million to support organizations and businesses that benefit underserved communities. Their loans and investments have helped: Build or preserve affordable homes for over 10,000 families and individuals.
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, Harrisburg, PA
Recipient of the Henry B. Gonzalez Award
The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency was recognized for being a national leader in assisting homeowners who are in danger of losing their properties to foreclosure, particularly through HEMAP (Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program). In 2010, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) introduced the Emergency Homeowner Loan Program (EHLP) in October of 2010 with an operational start date in 2011, based in part on the model created by this agency with HEMAP.
Cleveland v. Wall Street, Documentary film
Recipient of the Community Empowerment Award
In this documentary on the devastating numbers of foreclosures that have crippled certain neighborhoods in the Rust Belt city of Cleveland, filmmaker Jean-Stephane Bron concocts a mock trial that pits the city of Cleveland against 21 banks it blames for the foreclosures that wrecked the city’s economy. Cleveland vs. Wall Street premiered at the 63rd Cannes festival in 2010.
Simon Johnson & James Kwak, authors, 13 Bankers
Recipient of the Color of Money Award
Simon Johnson and James Kwak have been stalwart defenders of the Community Reinvestment Act, debunking arguments that CRA caused the financial crisis on their blog, The Baseline Scenario. Their book 13 Bankers: the Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Crisis, is a sharp and riveting analysis of the financial crisis. The book sounds a call we should all heed: we have not yet solved all the problems in the financial system yet, and our reform is not done.