People

George Knight, executive director of Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation for the past 10 years, has announced his retirement effective October 1, 2000.

Knight is leaving Neighborhood Reinvestment in order to spend more time with his family and to support his wife, Nancy, through a series of cancer treatments.

Knight was one of the original staff of the Urban Reinvestment Task Force, whose success led Congress to create the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation in 1978. In the year he became executive director, 1990, the 147 locally-based nonprofit housing organizations affiliated with Neighborhood Reinvestment through the NeighborWorks® network spurred $146 million in direct reinvestment.

"Having had the opportunity to travel around the country during my 25 years with Neighborhood Reinvestment, meeting with community leaders, residents, dedicated community development practitioners, public officials, and prominent business people, I'm continuously impressed by the terrific success that comes from the NeighborWorks® model of revitalization," Knight said from his Washington, DC office.  "I'm very proud to have been a part of this effort and know that the network and Neighborhood Reinvestment are poised to continue making a sustainable difference in low- and moderate-income communities."

(See Shelterforce's interview with George Knight, issue #112.)

Rey Ramsey, president and COO, and Ben Hecht, senior vice president for programs, left The Enterprise Foundation in June to launch a new nonprofit technology initiative. Bill Frey, senior vice president and director of the New York office, is serving as interim president. Susan H. Newton and Kristin E. Siglin have been promoted to vice president.

Jeanette Bradley will join the Urban Institute as a researcher in late June. Bradley has worked in a variety of capacities with the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina for the past three and a half years.

HUD has made available up to $1 million in technical assistance services to help communities in distressed counties of Appalachia with the design, building, and expansion of affordable housing. The assistance is available to local governments and affordable housing providers, as well as organizations participating in HUD's Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program. Topics include Community Housing Development Organization certification, construction management and architectural consulting. HUD, 202-708-0685.

Freddie Mac and the National Hispanic Housing Council (NHHC) have launched a $40 million initiative to expand new home construction, rehabilitation, and affordable homeownership opportunities for Latino families in California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Massachusetts. The two-year pilot is expected to help hundreds of Latino families – who might otherwise be precluded from the home loan market – obtain affordable purchase and rehabilitation mortgage financing. Freddie Mac and NHHC will identify local nonprofit NHHC member organizations to develop and build single-family housing projects. Brad German, Freddie Mac, 703-903-2437; Ruth Pagani, NHHC, 202-543-8580.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted unanimously to establish a Housing Trust Fund and to seed it with $5 million from the General Fund. The fund will augment program funds that the Los Angeles Housing Department uses for production. Long term, the funds are earmarked 80 percent for production and 20 percent for operating and rental subsidies. A coalition of community, labor, and religious organizations, as well as some local business leaders, are seeking a dedicated source for the trust fund that will produce $30-$50 million each year.

Seven organizations have received $35,000 grants from the Fannie Mae Foundation as part of their annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence Program for the Production of Low-Income Housing: Alliance for Building Communities, Allentown, PA; Boston's Aging Concerns (Young and Old United, Inc. and Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development), Boston, MA; House Central City Concern, Portland, OR; Fifth Ward CDC, Houston, TX; Gateway CDC, Henderson, NC; and St. Leonard's House, Chicago, IL. Overall, 44 organizations received grants totaling $363,000 this year. Jennifer Farland, Fannie Mae Foundation, 202-274-8080.

Twenty-six nonprofit organizations in rural America have received support grants from The Rural Capacity Building Initiative. The initiative, a partnership between The Enterprise Foundation and the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), will provide a total of $418,626 –  an average of $16,100 per recipient – to cover core support costs. The grantees expect to use the funds to construct or rehabilitate over 500 single-family homes, more than 300 apartments, and 50 units for elderly people or people with disabilities. Leslie Strauss, HAC, 202-842-8600, x141; Joanne Veto, Enterprise, 202-543-4599 x 17.