OCR Text |
Show fGarn from f Jk YJashington . . . yffW By Sen. Jake Gara For the first time since its inception in 1974 as an ad hoc experiment, the Neighborhood Neighbor-hood Housing Services (NHS) program is being given enthusiastic en-thusiastic Congressional recognition re-cognition and statutory permanence perm-anence as the National Neighborhood Neigh-borhood Reinvestment Corporation. Cor-poration. The purpose of this new Federal corporation is to continue revitalization of the urban neighborhoods all over the country. The demand for neighborhood housing services servic-es programs in cities across the United States warrants the creation of this public corporation to revitalize older urban neighborhoods by mobilizing mo-bilizing public, private, and community resources at the neighborhood level. I introduced the National Reinvestment Corporation Act in hopes of establishing a non-profit corporation to continue con-tinue the joint NHS efforts of the Federal financial regulatory regula-tory agencies and the Depart ment of Housing and Urban Development. This act pror motes the revitalization of older neighborhoods by local financial institutions working cooperatively with community communi-ty people and local government. govern-ment. It is expected to pass easily in both the Senate and the House of Representatives prior to adjournment this year. There are five essential elements to a successful NHS program: 1) Residents who want to preserve their neighborhood and improve their homes are essential in establishing and operating an NHS program; 2) Local governments must offer improvements in public amenities; 3) The local financial institutions insti-tutions must be willing to reinvest in neighborhoods by making market rate loans for qualified borrowers; 4) A high-risk revolving loan fund must be set up at flexible rates and terms for residents not meeting commercial com-mercial credit standards; and 5) The NHS organization must have a board of directors of which a majority is community com-munity residents, along with a significant representation of local financial institutions. The original NHS program in Pittsburgh, which was used as the model program successfully suc-cessfully increased real estate values by more than 60. One of the keys to NHS's success is that it is a local program which enables the corporation to have detailed knowledge of the local situation situa-tion that is often missing in federally managed programs. As well as being operated by the local community, very little funding will be from the Federal government. With few governmental regulations to comply with, the board has freedom and flexibility in its operation. Another feature that differs from a typical government program is that the NHS is not a give-away. When lending lend-ing through high-risk revolving revolv-ing loan funds, there must be a prospect for repayment. The fact that the program is not a . give-away is an important feature in the eyes of the miiiimiiiiiimiiiiiiMiiiiiiimiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiirillm nt financial institutions and private pri-vate funding sources. It effectively ef-fectively communicates the philosophy that neighborhood residents should be actively involved in their community's development, in partnership with the local financial institutions institu-tions and local government. Through this partnership, the NHS can be successful in getting the residents, lenders, and local officials to realize that they share common interests. inter-ests. Their interest will eventually even-tually affect nearby neighborhoods neighbor-hoods that can achieve some of the same objectives on their own. The NHS program will radiate beyond the chosen neighborhood and stimulate other neighborhood groups to seek improvements. We will be hearing a great deal about the Neighborhood Housing Services program in the near future. It seems certain that this program will become the leading urban neighborhood revitalization effort in the country. |