National Housing Conference participated in the kick off event of a new regional foreclosure initiative today in Atlanta. Piece by Piece – A Regional Foreclosure Initiative is a bold, coordinated effort designed to spur strategic action from the many regional stakeholders who care passionately about protecting the long-term future of our neighborhoods and communities.
Maureen Friar, NHC President and CEO, provided opening remarks and gave the national perspective on how Piece by Piece is an initiative to model on a national stage. Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros gave the keynote address.
Piece by Piece is unique because is not about one convening event. Today served as the kick-off to a period of strategic collaboration, thoughtful discussion, and public commitments to curb this crisis. As the United Voice for Housing, National Housing Conference looks forward to assisting in the implementation of this bold initiative to stabilize the Atlanta region and share successes across the country.
This unique initiative is being planned by a leadership team that includes: Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, the Atlanta Regional Commission, CredAbility, Enterprise Community Partners, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, The Home Depot Foundation, NeighborWorks America and the National Housing Conference.
The initiative includes the following key objectives:
(1) Provides up-to-date status of Metro Atlanta’s foreclosure crisis and ways to take action to help address it;
(2) Offers opportunities for coordination and best practice sharing; and
(3) Encourages public commitments on goals and actions that will be taken over the next three to five years to address the crisis. This is not merely a convening to discuss the foreclosure crisis. This is a coordinated initiative to take direct action.