Two Fair Haven Blocks Revamped

BY Melissa Bailey | APR 13, 2012 11:01 AM    

Posted to: Housing, Fair Haven

 

MELISSA BAILEY PHOTO   

Mosquera: “Moving fast.”   

Construction workers tore into the remnants of a row of rundown houses as a not-for-profit builder launched a $13 million effort to remake Fair Haven streets.    

 

The demo took place this week on Murray Place, a paper street connecting Saltonstall to Wolcott.    

That’s one of two Fair Haven blocks where the builder, Mutual Housing, doing business asNeighborWorks New Horizons, is demolishing or gut rehabbing properties to make way for affordable homes. The project, which will create 44 units of low-income housing, launched two weeks ago and is due to be finished by the end of the year.    

Seila Mosquera, head of the Grand Avenue-based affordable housing agency, led the Independent on a tour of the busy construction sites this week.    

 

The tour began at 255-259 Grand Ave., where three dilapidated stores once sat, on Fair Haven’s main commercial corridor in the heart of the city’s Latino community. Onlookers peered into a hole in a green construction fence to watch a grapple eat away at stone foundations.

 

 

MELISSA BAILEY PHOTO

Fischer Excavation took down a garage and three buildings that had commercial properties on the ground-floor and apartments above.

 

 

Mutual Housing bought the properties four years ago, Mosquera said. The agency helped one remaining tenant, a Turkish cell phone shop, find a space across the street to relocate before the buildings came down.

 

 

All the buildings that are part of the project were identified with the help of police, Mosquera said. Some were home to prostitution or drugs; others were vacant eyesores. The three on Grand Avenue were in “horrible condition,” she said. Meanwhile, developer Angelo Reyes had rehabbed three key properties across the street, bringing in a bank and a dental office.

 

Inspired in part by Reyes’ work, Mosquera said, “we wanted to fix up the other side of the street.”

In the rubble of 255-259 Grand Ave. will rise three buildings connected by a staircase, holding eight units of housing and three retail spots. They’ll use a brick facade in keeping with the historic style of Grand Avenue.

Mosquera turned the corner at Poplar to lead the way to more work under way.

That section of Poplar between Grand and Clay used to be dangerous, she said. There were a lot of shootings at Poplar and Clay. About six years ago, Mutual Housing swept through with rehab crews.

 

The agency turned a den of drugs and prostitution into a community center. And it transformed townhouses from 309 to 321 Poplar (pictured) through gut rehabs.

 

The effort targeted “the worst parts of the block,” Mosquera said. Those homes have now been filled with steady, responsible tenants who haven’t left in six years—which has helped stabilize a rough part of the neighborhood, she said.

Now Mutual Housing is proceeding to properties at 322 and 339-341 Poplar, as well as around the corner at 13-15, 41, 43-45-47 and 49 Clay.

“The goal is to revitalize the block,” Mosquera said.

 

Around the corner on Clay, vandals had smashed the windows of one home and sprayed gang graffiti reading “EGC Crip” on the door. That house is next in line for a gut rehab.

 

 

Mutual Housing has already made headway on the house next door. The new apartments will have hard-wood floors. All the apartments will be set aside for low-income tenants; tenants will be charged 30 percent of their income for rent, Mosquera said.

 

The work is being financed by: federal low-income tax credits, the state Department of Economic and Community Development, the City of New Haven, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, Webster Bank, NeighborWorks America, and United Illuminating’s energy efficiency program.

The biggest transformation is taking hold on Murray Place, a former “paper street,” or alleyway, between Saltonstall and Wolcott streets.

 

Mosquera put on a hard hat and walked down the wide construction driveway.

 

“They’re moving fast,” said Mosquera. A. Secondino & Sons, the general contractor, was overseeing the removal of contaminated soil. Crews plan to rebuild a significant swath of the block between Saltonstall, Wolcott, Lloyd and James.

 

Foundations are already rising.

 

 

Architect’s rendering of the future Murray Place development.

When the work is done, there will be 19 new townhouses and one three-bedroom apartment (pictured in architect’s rendering).

 

Mutual Housing already has a wait-list of over 100 people in line for affordable housing, according to Gloribell Lopez, Mutual Housing’s director of real estate development. The agency plans to start screening tenants in about six months. The 44 units will be “only a drop in the bucket” of Fair Haven’s vast need, she said.
Mosquera said the apartments aim to launch tenants on the way to self-sufficiency. The hope is that they’ll save up enough money over six to seven years to be able to afford their own homes. To that end, the agency runs classes on financial literacy, credit repair and first-time home buying.

Another goal is to reduce crime. Mosquera said crime has already fallen on the areas the agency targeted with its project six years ago, which added 24 units of affordable housing to Poplar and Ferry streets.

Back on Poplar, some signs of progress are already visible.

 

Nearby Mutual Housing’s fixer-uppers, workers were busy tearing up old shingles and fixing up the roofs on another home.

 

Landlord Gil Marshak said the work at 285 Poplar wasn’t directly inspired by Mutual Housing’s improvements, “but we are very happy for all the work that they’re doing” to stabilize the block.

 

Neighbor Nilda Ramirez (pictured), who’s 45, said she has seen the block improve a lot since she bought her own home there 11 years ago. When she moved in, she found a bullet hole on the pillar of her front porch. There was “a lot of drugs,” she said.

 

With the new neighbors and nicer homes, the block is “more peaceful,” she said. “We know each other.”

Her next-door neighbor agreed.

The block was “dark and dangerous” seven years ago, said the woman, who declined to give her name. “Now it’s much better.”

15 “Tipping Point” Houses Rescued, Rehabbed

by Allan Appel | Oct 26, 2011 8:04 am    

Allan Appel Photo   

Tracey and Troy Hie open the door to their first house, 212 Dover St.

Tracey Hie lives so close to the McDonald’s near Ferry and Exchange Streets that when he comes home from work, he can hear each and every order shouted out from the drive-thru. Not for long, though. Within two weeks he and his family will be moving into a splendidly gut-rehabbed 1900s house that completes a group of 15 home the city bought and sold to non-profit developers to diminish the effects of the foreclosure crisis.

194 Dover St.

Tuesday afternoon 212 and 194 Dover St. in Fair Haven were part of a double ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event drew the soon-to-be owners like the Hies and Curtis Rhodes, who is moving into 194, along with city and state officials and non-profit developer NeighborWorks New Horizons, which developed the property.

They were there to mark a red-letter moment for the city’s use of $3.2 million obtained in 2008 via the Housing Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (aka the “Stimulus” law).

The city leveraged that money, with the help of partners like the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund, into $5.2 million to pay for its Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). Its aim: to purchase “tipping point” properties, foreclosed houses whose rescue might keep a block from falling into dereliction.

Click here for a story on the launching of the city’s NSP program at 194 Dover in September 2009.

And here for the story of another house on Perkins Street, also part of the NSP program that rescues foreclosed properties in fragile areas of the city.

Curtis Rhodes admiring the original banister and steps at his 194 Dover St. home.

Rhodes’s house at 194, with its original stairs and banister, and the Hies’s at 212, with two sun rooms, are the 14th and 15th properties whose redevelopment has been completed with the funds.

A retired corrections officer, Rhodes hopes to move into the three-bedroom and one-and-a-half bathroom house with his 19-year-old daughter.

He said he loves the banister and appreciates the hook-up for washer and dryer, which will come in handy when his first granddaughter, two-month-old Jaylae, comes over to visit.

“I plan to do a lot of laundry,” he said.

The Hies, who with their two teenage daughters will be moving into 212 after the upcoming closing, have a rental unit in their house. Their upstairs and the downstairs units both have sun rooms.

Using the NSP funds, the city, through the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), bought 194 Dover out of foreclosure for $34,000. It sold the house to to NeighborWorks New Horizons for $39,000. The sale price to Rhodes is $129,000.

Abel Chaparro of Bridgeport-based Villa Gesell points out the 1x3 inch red oak floor design that echoes the original at 194 Dover .

The cost to gut-rehab the house, performed by Abel Chaparro and his Villa Gesell builders of Bridgeport, was $300,000. The difference in the construction financing came through the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund.

212 Dover was also a victim of foreclosure when the EDC purchased it for $75,000. Neighborworks bought it for $85,000 and is poised to sell to the Hies for $147,000.

To be eligible for purchase, buyers must fall into an income level at 50 to 120 percent of the area median income or AMI. For four people in New Haven, that would be $89,000, according to NeighborWorks New Horizon officials at the event.

Troy Hie by the kitchen countertop.

Troy Hie, who works for Metro North, is handy with kitchen countertops and plans to replace the formica. But that’s down the road.

NeighborWorks New Horizons Executive Director Seila Mosquera-Bruno called Dover Street “the perfect street” for this intervention.

Carla Weil of the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund said, “The real impact is to see these folks move in here today.”

Tracey and Troy Hie, Carla Weil, Mayor DeStefano in front of 194 Dover .

Mayor DeStefano said the city had done so well with NSP money that it has attracted an additional $1.86 million, which will be used in the same manner.

The last word Tuesday was left to Troy Hie, and echoed by Rhodes: “We got a house. Now we’re going to make it a home.”

The festive proceedings ended in tours and lunch. Lee Cruz of the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association briefed the new neighbors on the organization and its many activities, including a community dinner supporting a local restaurant tonight.

Mayor DeStefano, before departing, turned to the about-to-be homeowners assembled on the porch and reminded them to be sure to be registered and to vote in the mayoral election on Nov. 8.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/city_marks/

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Not-For-Profits Get A Break

by Thomas MacMillan | Sep 7, 2011 11:09 am

If an organization is collecting less rent by offering subsidized housing to poor people, should it pay less in property taxes?

Yes.

At least, that’s how the Board of Aldermen answered the question Tuesday night.

The question was posed in the form of two items on the agenda at the board’s regular meeting. The items proposed changes to the way the city assesses taxes for properties owned by the YMCA on Howe Street and NeighborWorks New Horizons, a housing agency.

Aldermen voted to approve the two proposals. As a result, the two organizations will pay lower taxes than they otherwise would have, in recognition of the public service they provide.

The YMCA item sailed through; the NeighborWorks matter prompted a small debate. Some aldermen had wondered if it should be held up for further study, because the city assessor’s office had released confusing numbers on the deal.

Hill Alderman Jorge Perez, chairman of the Legislation Committee, introduced the items to the board, starting with the YMCA.

The city normally calculates assessments based on the fair market value, he said. But the state legislature passed a law that assessments can be calculated using actual rents, Perez said. That’s what the Y is looking to do, he said.

The YMCA operates 80 Section 8 apartments and an additional 13 supportive housing units through the Housing Authority of New Haven.

The proposal also included a change to a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement between the YMCA and the city, in which the Y would increase its payment, but still would not pay as much as it otherwise might have to.

The deal would allow the Y to do a $12 million renovation project, most of which is being paid for with tax credits, along with a grant that has to be spent this year, Perez said.

The proposal passed unanimously.

Perez then moved onto the NeighborWorks item. “This request is similar,” he said. It’s complicated by the fact that the application, when it was in committee, didn’t have some key figures. The city assessor’s office later provided one important estimate: The city would lose $206,000 in tax revenue if the proposal goes through, Perez said.

“There’s a problem with that number,” he said. It’s higher than the total that NeighborWorks paid in taxes last year.

He later said he doesn’t know the actual dollar amount of tax revenue the city would give up.

NeighborWorks Executive Director Seila Mosquera before the meeting put the figure at $70,000. The organization now pays about $167,000 in property taxes and is asking to pay about $94,000.

The tax agreement would apply to 119 apartments with 35 separate addresses at five developments.

Mosquera said the deal is necessary for her organization, which sometimes has to choose between paying taxes and making repairs on its properties, she said.

“We do want to pay taxes,” she said.

During the meeting, Perez made a personal plea for support of the deal with NeighborWorks. “There’s a period when my family lived in Section 8,” he said. “There’s a period when I walking around with holes in my shoes.”

“This is a valuable entity and needs our assistance,” he said.

Fair Haven Alderwoman Maureen O’Sullivan-Best later sounded a note of caution. “If we continue adding properties to the list of non-taxable property, it puts an ever-increasing burden on the middle class.”

None of NeighborWorks’ property is non-taxable, Perez responded. NeighborWorks will still pay taxes, he stressed.

The NeighborWorks deal passed with 23 “yes” votes, a “no” from O’Sullivan-Best, and a pass from Alderman Carl Goldfield.

Retrieved from: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/ymca_gets_a_break/

Article published Jun 5, 2011

Foreclosures remain an issue for New London

By Lee Howard, Day Staff Writer

Weak housing market not helping the situation

Four years after the subprime mortgage crisis hit, and two years after New London organizations used $2 million to help turn around hard-hit neighborhoods, foreclosures are still a major problem for the city.

In April 2009, according to city assessment records, New London had 95 foreclosed homes on the tax rolls; this past April, the number was 91, which includes bank-owned properties, recent deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure and 65 condominium units at the Gull Harbor complex that went into foreclosure in October.

The Warren Group, which tracks New England real estate data, reported a similar trend, with New London foreclosures and foreclosure filings, which don't always lead to a property owner's loss of a home, falling only slightly, from 312 three years ago to 296 last year.

Yet the city hasn't seen the worst of the problem, said Julie Savin, director of real estate development for NeighborWorks/New Horizons, a nationwide affordable-housing association that operates an office in the city. Many of the adjustable loans from 2006 and 2007 will be resetting in the next two years, adding an average of $500 to $800 more a month to a typical mortgage payment, she said.

"People are going to be in great jeopardy when this starts to happen," Savin said.

Jeff Gentes, foreclosure-prevention staff attorney at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, said so-called negatively amortizing adjustable rate mortgages, in which payments balloon after a few years, have largely replaced subprime loans as the biggest problem the housing market faces going forward.

Given the weight of the current foreclosure problem, "the housing market is not going anywhere for the next four years," Gentes predicted.

Yet foreclosures in Connecticut have slowed over the past few months, according to statistics kept by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.

Gentes explains this by saying that takeovers of properties may have been artificially reduced as some banks were forced to stop illegal "robo-signing" practices - the rubber stamping of foreclosure paperwork that had previously sped cases through the legal system.

He expected foreclosures through the end of the year, though, to be processed at a brisker pace.

"There's still a residue of unemployment and underemployment," he said, making it hard for people to avoid foreclosure.

And the tide of foreclosures, he added, is starting to drift from the cities to the suburbs. East Lyme, for instance, had 34 lis pendens filings - the initial notice of foreclosure - three years ago, but 63 last year. New London, on the other hand, went from 158 lis pendens to 168, and its total foreclosure-related filings were actually down during the period.

"The foreclosure rate is way above crisis level and will probably continue for three years or so," Gentes said.

New London efforts

Officials in the New London Office of Development & Planning have been busy trying to stem the tide.

They are finishing up a two-year Neighborhood Stabilization Program that injected $867,850 in federal funds, $250,000 in city money and nearly $1 million in private or state donations to buy up and rehabilitate 11 foreclosed properties in the center city. In addition, they are awaiting $400,000 in federal funding to revive four other foreclosed properties in the city.

In another attempt to get foreclosed properties back into the hands of homeowners, the City Council this year allocated $100,000 for down-payment assistance to New London home buyers. People who buy vacant homes in the city are eligible for forgivable loans of up to $5,000 if they live in New London for five years; others who buy occupied homes can get up to $2,500.

"It's to promote owner-occupancy," said Judi Cox, loan specialist for Development & Planning. "It's to get people living and buying in New London."

A 24-year-old city firefighter is among the more than a half-dozen people who have applied for the month-old program. Four loans have been approved so far.

But everyone involved in efforts to reduce the number of foreclosed properties in New London acknowledges that it will be a long time before the problem goes away. Of the 95 properties that had been turned over to banks two years ago, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program was able to buy up only six of them; five others that were foreclosed on later also were snatched up for rehabilitation.

So far, five of the program's home renovations have been completed and three have been resold. The other six homes should be ready for occupancy by the end of the year, said Tom Bombria, community development manager for the city.

"It's been a big boon for New London," he said of the $2 million infusion of housing funds.

A warm home of her own

For people such as Dayana Fuentes, 29, who bought a Habitat for Humanity home on Cape Ann Court acquired through the program, it's brought a sense of relief.

"We're safe, and basically we're moving up," she said.

Fuentes and her family of two girls and one boy, ages 2 through 9, had been crammed into a two-bedroom apartment before moving to Cape Ann Court just before Christmas of last year.

She recalled that a Chinese restaurant had refused to deliver to her former neighborhood after a delivery man had been mugged. Her former apartment, she added, featured mold in the basement and drafty windows.

"The heat cost us more than the rent," she said.

Now, the kids have a fenced-in back yard in which to play, she said, and the newly built home has inspired several neighbors to give their places a facelift.

"We're comfortable. We're warm. It's stable living," she said.

The city has been working with four nonprofit organizations to complete the program: Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities, or ECHO; Housing Opportunities for People, or HOPE; Neighborworks and Habitat for Humanity. Each has brought its own funding sources into the equation, helping expand the scope of the overall project.

Marilyn Graham, executive director of HOPE, said marketing the program's properties has been difficult in the current real estate market. She has had to reduce the price on a West Coit Street house from $135,000 to $125,000.

"You have to price them low today because there's such a glut in the market," she said. "When there's a bargain, people will jump to it."

But Graham and Peter Battles, ECHO's executive director, agree that rehabbing old homes in the city isn't about getting a return on investment. It's about getting people into affordable homes and making sure foreclosures don't overwhelm areas of the city hit hard by too many eyesores.

"There's certain neighborhoods where one bad apple is really noticeable and can drag down adjoining properties," Battles said.

Foreclosure competition

One positive trend is that foreclosed properties don't stay on the market too long these days. Of the 95 properties involved in foreclosures two years ago, only one remains on the list today.

"The banks finally decided it didn't make sense to hold onto properties - they needed to take a loss," said Savin of NeighborWorks.

Terri O'Rourke, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Southeastern Connecticut, said that investors and nonprofit housing groups are often bidding on the same properties today.

But Savin said business people with deep pockets sometimes have an advantage if they can pay in cash and quickly wipe out a scar on the bank's balance books. Nonprofits, she said, argued successfully with a few banks that they would be more responsible in doing first-class rehab work to turn neighborhoods around.

"It was a big game we were constantly playing," she said.

Despite the obstacles, Savin and others said they think the neighborhood stabilization program has made an impact, especially in the Hispanic and African-American communities. The Hispanic community, particularly, was hit hard by New London mortgage scams led by Jose Guzman and Syed A. "Ali" Babar, she said.

Neighborhood stabilization funds didn't go into the worst eyesores - that would have eaten up too much of the money on too few properties, Savin said - but instead were focused on homes that needed a moderate amount of work in areas hardest hit by foreclosures. The best results were seen in the West Street-Center Street-Connecticut Avenue area, she added.

"The minority neighborhoods have definitely suffered the most in this banking crisis," Savin said. "I think we made a substantial impact."

l.howard@theday.com

Affordable housing opens in Hamden, at Highwood Square

Saturday, June 4, 2011

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor
adematteo@nhregister.com

Liberty Bank gets affordable housing award

March 16, 2011

Girl Scouts of Connecticut is hosting a Women of Achievement breakfast on Wednesday, April 6 at the Fantasia Banquet Facility in North Haven. The event will celebrate 11 inspiring women business and community leaders in the greater New Haven area. All of the honorees are women of achievement and distinction who inspire us all with their courage, confidence, and character. 

These women are role models for girls across the state.

Honorees:                     

Mary Lou Aleskie
International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven

Heather Calabrese
United Way of Greater New Haven

Sharon Cappetta
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Barbara Chesler
Yale University

Lorraine DeLuz
Wilbur Cross High School

Karen DuBois-Walton
New Haven Housing Authority

Alice Forrester
Clifford Beers Clinic

Kim Healey
NewAlliance Foundation

Seila Mosquera-Bruno
NeighborWorks New Horizons

Mary L. Pepe
RE: Solution, LLC

Diane Young Turner
Yale University

Girl Scouts of Connecticut is Connecticut's recognized girl-empowerment organization dedicated to lifelong success through values-based leadership development and personal growth. Ticket prices begin at $50 for an individual. Contributions from the Women of Achievement breakfast will help support unique Girl Scout programs for all girls in grades K-12 to gain important life skills. Through exceptional Girl Scout activities and programs, girls discover the world around them, envision and prepare for a positive future, connect with others, understand and care about the needs of their community, become leaders advocating for themselves and others, and take action to make their neighborhoods, communities, and their world a better place.

Sponsors of the Women of Achievement event include:

· NewAlliance Bank - Title Sponsor

· Yale-New Haven Hospital

· The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

• United Way of Greater New Haven

For more information about the event and how you can become a sponsor, please contact Deirdre Chambers at dchambers@gsofct.org, 860-522-0163 ext. 3257.

New Home on the Market: Revitalizing Neighborhoods

September 21, 2010

NeighborWorks^® New Horizons hosted a Grand Opening &  Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the completion of the first home of PHASE II of the Fair Haven Revitalization Project. The ceremony took place on September 21, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at 36 Clay Street in New Haven, CT 06513.

NeighborWorks^® New Horizons rehabbed this single-family home located at 36 Clay Street. The spacious property has 2,100 sq. ft of living space!!!  The home will be sold at an affordable price to an individual or family meeting income the requirements.

Exterior improvements include a reconfigurating of the first floor’s front windows and front door location to its original design, new siding, new roof, new windows and doors, as well as brand new gas powered heating system, new plumbing and electrical systems. It has been constructed to EnergyStar Standards for maximum energy-efficiency. The home has an open floor plan with a new kitchen, living room and dining area, 2 ½ bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, and a full unfinished basement.    

This is the first of 4 homes on the block being rehabbed and sold as affordable homeownership properties by NeighborWorks^® New Horizons. It is also the second phase of a neighborhood revitalization effort encompassing other surrounding homes in New Haven. As per our mission, we aim to develop and operate permanently affordable, quality housing that builds strong, healthy and vibrant communities through active resident and community participation and leadership.

Funding for the development was provided by: the City of New Haven, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority's (CHFA) and the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. The City of New Haven’s CEO’s Career Development School participated in the construction of the house. The School’s participants are local residents training in the building and construction fields.

Free Ready to Rent Classes Offered in New Haven

6.11.2010 |  Participants who successfully complete our 8 hour class receive additional points when applying for our housing Ready to Rent is the first step to finding decent housing!

This is your chance to learn how to be a good renter and to overcome and understand financial issues related to credit, budgeting and financial literacy. A certificate is awarded when you complete the class.  Additional points are awarded participants when they complete our program.

Class size is limited – so be sure to preregister for a class.  For more information, Call Olivia at 203-562-4514 X21. New Haven classes are held at NeighborWorks New Horizons Family Learning Center at 311 Poplar Street. 

Schedule of Classes:
Classes are held on Saturdays and run from 9 am - 3:30 pm

New London's West Street Location is the Start of 13-house Neighborhood Stabilization Program Effort

From the April 1, 2010 edition of The New London Day
Newspaper Project involves 4 agencies using stimulus money
By Kathleen Edgecomb 

As state and local dignitaries arrived at a two-family house on West Street Wednesday for a showing of the first of 13 buildings that are being rehabilitated with federal stimulus money, a round of cheers went up for the new owners. Just hours before, a family signed a contract for $151,000 for the house at 69 West St. "The closing is scheduled for the second week of May," said Julie M. Savin of NeighborWorks New Horizons, which turned the foreclosed-upon and vacant house into a pristine living area with refinished hardwood floors, fresh paint, new carpets, appliances and back decks. 

The project was funded with a portion of an $867,850 grant from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The city distributed the grant money to four organizations - NeighborWorks, H.O.P.E Inc., Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities and Habitat for Humanity - which have been renovating 13 houses throughout the city. More than a dozen officials gathered around the front porch at the West Street house as neighbors tended to hoses pumping water from their basements. 

"This is a good news story to share," said Jane Dauphinais of the Southeastern Connecticut Housing Alliance, which is administering the program for the city."It's good for New London. It's good for this neighborhood, and it's good for the 13 families that will move into these houses."

Julie B. Fagan, Connecticut field office director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, also was on hand to congratulate the city on its judicious use of stimulus money and the timely way those funds were used. "Thanks to you, 13 families will care about these homes,'' she said. ”Not the ones they lost in the housing crisis."

In 2008, President Barack Obama announced one of the first stimulus packages, which allocated to Connecticut $21.8 million to help curb the negative effects of property foreclosures. At first all the funds were awarded to the state's larger cities but U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, fought for New London and Norwich to receive some of the money. "We have to look at the economic multiplier effect," he said. Families will be given new homes, contractors will have jobs and the city will collect new taxes, he said. "It's the smartest use of taxpayer dollars you could ever design," he said.

In 2006, the West Street house was sold for $295,000. Two months earlier it had been sold for $200,000. It was taken over by the bank in 2008. Savin said the cost of rebuilding the house was about $250,000, which included about $133,000 in construction costs, $23,000 in lead abatement and paying off the mortgage. The houses will be sold to first-time, qualified home buyers whose household incomes are no higher than 120 percent of the HUD median income levels. That would be about $67,000 for a single person and around $96,000 for a four-person family. Deed restrictions require the home buyer to live in the house for 15 years. It can be sold before the 15 years is up, but only to a similarly qualified buyer.

FREE Homebuying Classes:
New London, New Haven and Meriden

Want to know what it takes to own your OWN home?
First Time Homebuyers can now take a FREE 8 hour class offered by NeighborWorks New Horizon and receive a certificate which qualifies participants for a CHFA morgage and downpayment assistance.

This class covers:
• Homeownership ReadinessBudgeting and Credit 
• What you need to know about shopping for a Home
• Financing a Home - learning which mortgages to apply for and which predatory
Mortgages to stay away from
• Maintaining a Home

Certificates are given to participants who have completed the 8 hour class.  
This certificate qualifies participants for a CHFA mortgage and if qualified, Downpayment Assistance.

Saturday classes are usually offered from 8:30am to 4:30 pm alternating between New Haven, New London, Meriden, CT
Pre-registration is required.

For more information, contact Vanessa at Extension 12 at 203-562-4514

NeighborWorks House for Sale

36 CLAY STREET IN NEW HAVEN FOR SALE FEBRUARY 2010

NeighborWorks New Horizons has rehabbed this single family home in New Haven for sale February 2010.  Sales Price $147,000* (subject to change based on final appraisal prior to sale).

The house has 2,100 square feet of living space.  Exterior improvements include a reconfiguration of first floor front windows and front door location.  New siding, new roof, new window and doors.  The interior benefited from lead and asbestos abatement as well as brand new gas powered heating system, new plumbing and electrical systems.  This home will be inspected by an Energy Star rater to ensure maximum energy-efficiency.  The house also includes a new kitchen, 2 1/2 full bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, a living and dining room.

This is the first of 4 homes on the block being rehabbed and sold for homeownership by NeighborWorks (R) New Horizons, in addition to several other homes NWNH is renovating on this block, and in the Fair Haven neighborhood.  It is also the first phase of a revitalization effort encompassing other surrounding homes in New Haven.

Pricing & Buyer eligibility:  Pricing shall be determined based on the current appraisal at time of purchase and will not exceed affordability requirements. Potential homebuyers must be first time homebuyers and must maintain the property as family's principle residence. Buyer's gross income may not exceed Affordability Guidelines as determined by family size.

For more information on how to quality to purchase 36 Clay Street and to obtain an application. Contact Vanessa at 203-562-4514 X12.

FY 2009 Income Limits for 80% of HUD Area Median Income
• 1 person household - $44,800; 2 person household - $51,200  
• 3 person household - $57,600; 4 person household - $64,000
• 5 person household - $69,100; 6 person household - $74,250
• 7 person household - $79,350; 8 person household - $84,500

Winners of NeighborWorks Children's Contest

NeighborWorks New Horizons asked resident's children 5 to 17 to write or draw what they are thankful for.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Three Winners of our 
"WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR Contest"
Kerry Rodriguez, age 5 from Canterbury is thankful for a new apartment, food, mom, God, friends, Love and school Melissa Melendez, age 6 from Canterbury is thankful for God and Zinita Rodriguez, age 7 also a resident of Canterbury is thankful for God and food and asks that we "Be Kind".

All three children received tickets to see the New Haven Shubert's performance of The Christmas Carol.

NeighborWorks Honors Youth

11-5-2009 | Emerging Youth Recognized at NeighborWorks Annual Meeting November 5th

NeighborWorks New Horizon's Annual Meeting at Amarante's November 5th, Recognizes 6 Youths for their Contributions. Ogom Amaechi, resident of George Street graduated UCONN and works as a teacher for Amistad Charter School. Ivan Garcia,  resident of George Street volunteers 40 hours per week at St. Raphael's Hospital in the pharmacy. Anthony Grullon, ArLoW resident, helped his mother open Manjares fine pastries at ArLoW. Anthony Williams, resident of George Street is now working as a regional consultant at Men's Wearhouse.

Libby Protzman, resident of Guilford has volunteered for 13 years at NWNH and recently was accepted to a semester at Oxford in England. Alec Albright, the only youth who is not a resident of NeighborWorks, and a 7th grader at St. Mary's School in Milford organized a Halloween costume drive and collected over 80 costumes for NeighborWorks children.

Pictured Left to Right: Ogon Amaechi, Ivan Garcia, Anthony Grullon, Seila Mosquera, Executive Director of NeighborWorks, Anthony Williams, Libby Protzman and Alec Albright.

KIDS Helping KIDS

10-3-2009 | NeighborWorks celebrates Halloween Lots of Princesses and Super Heroes in New Haven

The Children of NeighborWorks New Horizons in New Haven received a bounty of Halloween costumes from the Children at St. Mary's School in Milford and Race Brook School in Orange.

Our newest development, Canterbury Gardens combined a Pot Luck Supper with their Halloween Costume selection in early October. Princesses were the popular costume for Girls and Super Heroes for Boys. And of course, what's Halloween without the occasional Witch!!!

Children from Ferry & Poplar Street along with the kids from Richard's Street area also enjoyed the free selection of over 200 costumes. George Street residents threw a Halloween Costume Party after selecting their costumes.

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NeighborWorks Attends City Hall Housing Fair
NeighborWorks Offers Free Classes to Community

Olivia Davis, Community Organizer, Vanessa Dunn, Homebuyer Counselor, and Jennifer Levine, VISTA (pictured above left to right) represented NeighborWorks New Horizons on, December 1st at the New Haven City Hall Housing Fair.

Information was disseminated on the free classes we offer to residents and the community, including our Ready to Rent Class targeted towards becoming a good tenant, solving credit issues and understanding tenant/landlord rights.  Ready to Rent classes are a 7 hour class and offered once a month.

Our 8 hour First Time Homebuyer Education Class is offered monthly and addresses homeownership readiness, budgeting and credit, shopping for a home, and financing and maintaining a home. Private foreclosure prevention counseling is also offered. For more information, please contact Jennifer Levine at 203-562-4514 X28.

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Canterbury Ribbon Cutting

6-22-2009 | DIGNITARIES GRACE NEIGHBORWORKS LATEST DEVELOPMENT

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro helped NWNH cut the ribbon at the grand opening of Canterbury Gardens, a 34 unit supportive housing development in New Haven. New Haven Mayor John DeStephano attended along with State Senator Gary A. Holder-Winfield from the 94th congressional district, and James Word and Chris Harper-Fehey representatives from NeighborWorks America.

 
Pictured above is resident Brenda Cyrus-Foskey, Rosa DeLauro and Seila Mosquera, Executive Director of NeighborWorks. 

Guilford NeighborWorks Resident wins Prestigious Award

5-15-2009 | Janice Curry of Guilford wins the Dorothy Richardson Award for Resident Leadership

Janice Curry, a leader within her community has been awarded the Dorothy Richardson Award for Resident Leadership from NeighborWorks® America. Janice serves the Boy Scouts, the Guilford Resident Council, American Cancer society, Yellow Ribbon Mothers and many other organizations to help build a strong community. She is also Vice President of the NeighborWorks Board of Directors.

Janice is pictured here with Seila Mosquera, Executive Director (left) of NeighborWorks New Horizons.

Ferry Street Resident Wins Award

3-30-2009 | Kim Streater is awarded the Janice Elliot Award

Congratulations to Kimberly Streater, a resident of Ferry Street and mother of 5 on being awarded the Janice Elliot Award, a Supportive Housing Tenants Award for Community Service from the Connecticut Partnership for Strong Communities.Kim's consistent involvement with her community and especially involvement with neighborhood youths made her a stand out for this award.  Kim speaks at numerous events including the Capital in Hartford on the benefits of supportive housing.