Housing and Community Development Network awarded over $280K for housing counseling efforts

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday announced that it has awarded the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey $282,977 to support the housing counseling services of eight nonprofit subgrantee organizations. The funds will help these organizations provide critically needed counseling to families and individuals, to meet their housing needs and to prevent future foreclosures.

“Housing counseling empowers households to make sound financial decisions, improving their chances of being safe and stably housed. Thank you to HUD and our congressional leaders for investing in these services, which helps to address housing insecurity,” network Director of Housing Counseling and Community Investment Louis Prezeau said.

The HUD-certified housing counselors are advising struggling renters by providing valuable financial education, guiding first time homebuyers, assisting homeowners to avoid foreclosure and helping Black and brown households overcome barriers in effort to close the racial wealth gap and achieve homeownership.

As the largest certified funded intermediary exclusively serving New Jersey, the network provides pass-through housing counseling program funding to its network of qualified subgrantee affiliate organizations, which deliver housing counseling services throughout New Jersey. In this capacity, the network provides administrative oversight around providing excellence of services, technical assistance, compliance, reporting and training. In addition to the subgrantees supported through the intermediary, the network partners with 38 community based nonprofit organizations that offer housing counseling services in their communities.