Good Policy Makes A Difference
By Noel. A. Poyo, Executive Directo NALCAB
In a time of heated partisan politics, there are those on the fringes who decry any federal spending as waste, just as there are those that demand more federal spending without careful analysis of efficiency and return on investment. Good policy, however, makes a difference. While one-liners and sound bites have been flying back and forth, a major achievement for US Latino communities has quietly slipped by.
In February 2010, the Obama Administration made the single largest grant ever targeted to predominately Latino communities. Through a highly competitive process, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded $137 million under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to CPLC, Inc., acting as the lead applicant for a national consortium of high capacity, non-profit affordable housing developers, to revitalize neighborhoods in eight (8) states and the District of Columbia that had been negatively impacted by foreclosure and abandoned properties. The members of this consortium, all members of the NALCAB network, are anchor institutions in their communities, providing bilingual and bicultural services. This award recognized not only the demographic growth of Latinos, but also the extent to which Latinos have been disproportionately affected by the foreclosure crisis. In October 2012, the CPLC/NALCAB NSP Consortium documented its 1,000th job created at the same time that it reached HUD’s performance deadline four months ahead of schedule.
First approved under the Bush Administration, NSP sought to address the problem of foreclosed and vacant properties that were dragging down values. The Obama Administration made changes to the program to increase accountability and effectiveness, changing the program from a non-competitive block grant to local government into a competitive process that encouraged private sector participation. This attracted innovative applications from networks of mission-driven housing developers like Habitat for Humanity and the CPLC/ NALCAB Consortium.
In the broad and reasonable middle, self-styled conservatives and progressives alike have found things to like about the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). NSP provided funding for the acquisition and rehabilitation of vacant and foreclosed housing at a time when housing prices were in freefall and contractors were forced to stay home and fix their own houses. While each NSP home provides an affordable housing opportunity for a well-prepared first-time buyer, this is only the beginning of the positive ripple effects on whole communities. When a vacant, run-down house becomes a vibrant home, dozens of people down the street who were forced to tolerate blight in their community, and a drag on their home values, feel the benefit. Private contractors and real estate agents who feared having to close up shop also feel the bottom line benefits.
Carmen and Jim Laage lived next door to an abandoned home in the Granada Hills community of Los Angeles before it was acquired as an NSP house by NALCAB network member NEW Economics for Women. Over the course of years, the Laages watched the empty structure get stripped of copper, fixtures and even the doors. Repeated visits by the police could not keep this shell from being a magnet for criminal activity. When asked about how they felt about the NSP rehabilitation work, Mrs. Laage summed up the impact of for her, “it felt like Christmas”. See Neighbors video.
NSP generated much needed work for local construction contractors. Jorge Mendoza is an independent cabinet-maker for Wood Master Cabinets in McAllen, TX who was hired by Affordable Homes of South Texas, Inc. (another member of the CPLC/NALCAB NSP Consortium) to work on NSP homes. The timing of this work allowed Mr. Mendoza to avoid laying off employees. Over time, the security of timely and consistent payments on his NSP contracts allowed Mr. Mendoza to confidently pursue other work and expand his business.
Predominately Latino communities were hit hard in the recession and the NSP program has responded to that reality, providing opportunities for hard working people to rebuild their businesses and regain confidence in the long-term value of their homes. Good policy makes a difference.
