Housing Experts Unite in Washington, DC to Highlight Best Practices Increasing Hispanic Homeownership

WASHINGTON, DC (May 20, 2004) – The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s (CHCI) National Housing Initiative (NHI) gathered national housing experts, industry professionals, housing advocates and elected officials to identify and highlight best practices currently increasing Hispanic homeownership in the U.S. The 2004 Best Practices Conference, held May 19-21, was the first housing forum to solely focus on innovative homeownership strategies aimed at the Hispanic community, which is expected to make up a substantial percentage of the 14 to 16 million new households by 2010.  

CHCI Chair, Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) and NHI Advisory Committee member, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) kicked off the conference during a Wednesday welcome reception. Both are Chairs of their respective Hispanic Congressional member organizations, representing the bi-partisan support NHI has received since its launch in September 2003.   

Conference sessions focused on stimulating effective consumer demand, increasing the supply of affordable homes and accessing and serving the Latino market.  In addition, special sessions were organized to address the important issues of predatory lending and challenges faced in serving immigrant homebuyers. Nationally recognized housing experts Moises Loza, executive director of the Housing Assistance Council, and Saul N. Ramirez, executive director of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, gave keynote addresses at the conference luncheons. 

“In addition to identifying distinctive housing obstacles for Hispanics in emerging and traditional markets across the United States, it was critical for NHI to convene those housing experts who are revolutionizing how we put Hispanics into homes,” said Ingrid M. Duran, CHCI President and CEO. “The mission of this conference was to highlight best practices and funnel what is essentially going to bridge the Hispanic homeownership divide to other parts of the country.”

The current Hispanic homeownership rate stands at 48 percent versus 68 percent of the population and 72 percent of non-Hispanic whites. In September 2003, NHI was launched in response to the disparity to empower three senior housing professionals, known as NHI Fellows, to identify and develop specifically tailored housing solutions in Congressional districts with a 25 percent or higher Latino population.  

A component of the National Housing Initiative aimed specifically at the Hispanic consumer is HOGAR, which serves as an acronym for Hispanic Ownership a Growing American Reality. HOGAR, the Spanish word for “home”, is NHI’s national campaign to encourage and support more Latino families in fulfilling their dreams, building economic assets and accumulating intergenerational wealth through homeownership.  

Since the initiative’s launch, NHI Fellows Ron Jauregui of Orange County, CA, Sonia Montero Poyo, of Newark, NJ and Alejandro Becerra of Tucson, AZ have conducted needs assessments in 63 Congressional districts, garnered bi-partisan Congressional support from 35 Members of Congress and executed industry, advocate and consumer focus groups in 11 cities across the U.S.  

Soon after the Best Practices Conference, NHI Fellows will begin the HOGAR campaign by implementing regional initiatives in targeted districts, in addition to launching a public relations campaign of television, radio and print public service announcements and a national housing directory, which will also be available as a bilingual website.

The NHI focuses on expanding the accessibility of homeownership to Latinos by employing a novel bi-partisan, multi-tiered strategy to identify and develop solutions to address the current obstacles faced by Hispanics.  The effort targets 63 congressional districts – in 11 states – where Latinos comprise at least 25 percent of the constituency.  Three NHI fellows work in concert with an Advisory Committee comprised of Members of Congress, representatives of the lending and real estate industries, as well as advocacy organizations in order to adequately assess the needs of Latinos and implement strategies specially tailored to the varied needs of this diverse community. 

CHCI, a non-profit and non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization, provides educational programs for Hispanic college and postgraduate students.  The CHCI Board of Directors is comprised of Hispanic Members of Congress, non-profit leaders, and corporate executives.  For more information on CHCI, call 1-800-EXCEL DC or visit www.chci.org.

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