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| On April 3, 2001, at the National Press
Club in Washington, DC, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
(CBCF) and its corporate and community based partners launched
a new initiative, “With Ownership Wealth” (WOW
Initiative) to promote minority homeownership. |
| The CBCF launched the WOW initiative because
minority homeownership rates continue to lag behind the rates
of majority populations. Despite the fact that the minority
homeownership rates grew four times faster than that of whites
in the 1990s, the African American homeownership rate is still
less that 47 percent; far behind the 73 percent rate for white
families and 67 percent for the nation as a whole. |
| Joining the CBCF in the WOW Initiative
is a number of financial institutions, trade associations,
mortgage insurance companies, realtors, and community based
organizations. The alliance was designed to: |
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- Work to create homeownership
opportunities for minority families and make a tangible
difference in revitalizing communities throughout the
country.
- Communicate the opportunities of homeownership, how
to achieve homeownership, and how to establish a solid
credit history to build wealth and buy homes.
- Offer a wide array of flexible mortgage products to
address issues that many first time homebuyers and others
face such as: lack of funds to cover down payment and
closing costs and no reserves; challenges in accumulating
wealth; and non traditional credit histories or impaired
credit.
- Serve as a catalyst for working with the homebuilders
and the Department of Housing and Urban Development
to develop affordable, attractive, and accessible housing
in these communities. |
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| To achieve the goals of the WOW Initiative,
the CBCF worked with the Congressional Black Caucus to engage
the stake-holders in the housing industry in their districts
and partner with them to establish local WOW programs. As
a result of this effort, a local WOW program was established
in all of the 37 Congressional Districts represented by Congressional
Black Caucus Members. Each local WOW program includes outreach,
home buying assistance and counseling, mortgage financing
using the most aggressive mortgage products and financial
subsidies, and affordable housing production. |
| The local WOW program in the
Greater New Orleans Area, New Orleans WOW Program, is a partnership
coordinated by CONGRESSMAN William J. Jefferson and headed
by CBCF and the Community of Faith for Economic Empowerment.
The goal is to create 5000 new homeowners in metropolitan
New Orleans and to promote homeownership across Louisiana.
You can be one of those 5000 new homeowners. Let the New Orleans
WOW program show you how. |
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