Fannie Mae will spend $1 billion over the next four years through its House Washington program, an effort to boost housing and redevelop Washington, D.C., neighborhoods. The program could help as many as 8,000 families become new homeowners. House Washington also aims to rebuild Washington's population, neighborhoods, and financial base, as $75 million of the money will be invested with the National Capital Revitalization Corporation, the District's economic development arm. Changes in Fannie Mae's underwriting rules will allow residents to apply the $5,000 home buyers tax credit as a down payment. Information: Fannie Mae Consumer Resource Center, 1-800-732-6643.

The Nehemiah Program, a national affordable housing, down-payment assistance program based in California, has passed the $1 billion mark for real estate transactions. The HUD-approved program has given more than $43 million to qualified buyers. Buyers must be credit-approved, come up with at least one percent of the sales price themselves, and complete a course in home ownership. According to Don F. Harris, founder and president of Nehemiah Progressive Housing Corporation, more than 47 percent of Nehemiah buyers are minorities. Information: Don F. Harris, Nehemiah Progressive Housing Corporation, 916-231-1999.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) announced a $7.4 million program of loans and grants to be divided among 48 nonprofit "sweat equity" developers in 20 states, which will enable 795 low-income families to afford homeownership. $5.6 million of the total is from the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), in which families contribute 1,000 hours of sweat equity labor to lower construction costs. The balance is from HAC's Rural Housing Loan Fund. SHOP received $13.5 million from HUD in 1996 and $4.8 million in 1998. Congress has appropriated another $20 million for a third SHOP round in FY 1999 to further advance HAC's mission to improve housing for the rural poor. Information: HAC Loan Administration Dept., 202-842-8600.

Two of Chicago's premiere legal services operations, the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services and the Poverty Law Project, have united to become the National Center on Poverty Law. Rita McLennon has been named executive director. The organization will provide low-income people and their advocates with a broad range of legal services and will integrate information and communication services with litigation and advocacy previously provided by both former entities. The National Center on Poverty Law's services include advocacy, a research center, a poverty law library with over 500,000 case documents, technological resources, educational and professional training, advocacy publications, and consensus building. Information: National Center on Poverty Law, 312-263-3830; www.povertylaw.org

Eight California CDCs will receive funding through the Partners in Community Building Program. The three-year program will provide $4.5 million in direct investment and leverage another $6 million in public and private funding to revitalize distressed neighborhoods in three cities. The eight participants are: Oakland Community Housing Inc., East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, Housing Conservation and Development Corporation, Chinatown Community Development Center, Mission Housing Development Corporation, and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, and the Community Housing Development Corporation. Funders include Bank of America, the Haas Jr. Fund, the Hewlett Foundation, and the HUD-affiliated National Community Development Initiative. Information: Juliet Don, Bank of America, 415-622-1588.

The Fannie Mae Foundation recently presented Maxwell Awards of $35,000 to six nonprofit organizations that have exhibited outstanding work in the affordable housing field. The awardees are: Self-Help Enterprises of San Joaquin Valley, CA; Community Development Corporation of Brownsville of Brownsville, TX; Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation; Walking Shield American Indian Society, Inc., of Orange, CA; Asian Americans for Equality of New York City, NY; and WOMAN, Inc., of Pasadena, TX. Information: Diane Tomb, Fannie Mae Foundation, 202-274-8004.

HUD has awarded $46.8 million in Family Unification Grants to housing authorities in 31 states to help about 7,000 low-income families nationwide. More than 50,000 children and their families have obtained affordable housing and reduced their involvement in the foster care system with the program. Call local area HUD offices for more information.

The Delaware State Housing Authority was named USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's National Outstanding Sponsor of 1999 for its financial commitment to a local nonprofit's emergency home repair program. The Delaware State Housing Authority praised the seven-year-old project, administered by the First State Resource Conservation and Development Council, for its outstanding volunteer recruitment program enabling state dollars to be applied directly to costs of materials. The project so far has rehabilitated the homes of 1,100 Delaware families. Information: 302-678-4175.