National CAPACD News October 2009

In this month’s newsletter:

1) In Washington: National CAPACD hosts Community in the Capital, our premier leadership development program

2) Federal Policy Update: Consumer Protection Bill Moves Forward One Step

3) In the Field: U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Official Mercedes Marquez meets with National CAPACD   groups in San Francisco, CA

4) Resources: Making Home Affordable materials now available in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese

5) National CAPACD Staffing Updates

6) Job Opportunities

1)    National CAPACD hosts Community in the Capital, our premier leadership development program

This month, National CAPACD hosted our 3^rd annual Community in the Capital convening.  We welcomed 13 individuals from 12 of its member organizations to Washington D.C. to participate in our premier leadership development program, where leaders from National CAPACD’s member organizations travel to our nation’s capital to learn and practice critical advocacy skills that allow them to be more effective in representing their communities to key lawmakers and administrators in their cities, states and their federal elected representatives.  These participants came from AAPI community based organizations from all parts of the country, including Boston, Minneapolis, Miami, San Diego, and the state of Hawaii.

This year’s convening focused on foreclosure mitigation strategies, the modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act, and the evolving legislation on President Obama’s consumer finance protection agency proposal.  All of the participants came to Washington D.C. with experience in confronting foreclosure issues at the local level, and at this year’s Community in the Capital they took advantage of the opportunity to engage with one another.   Special guest speakers included Doua Thor (Southeast Asian Resource Action Center), Graciela Aponte (National Council of La Raza), Gloria Chan (Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus), Aracely Panameno (Center for Responsible Lending), and Teddy Miller and Josh Silver (National Community Reinvestment Coalition).   Participants also had an opportunity to practice their advocacy skills in meetings with their elected officials, as well as representatives from the U.S. Department of Treasury.

For more information on Community in the Capital, please contact Hieu Truong, Program Coordinator, at .

National CAPACD is grateful to Southwest Airlines, the official airline sponsor of the Community in the Capital program. 

 

 

2)    Federal Policy Update:  Consumer Protection Bill Moves Forward One Step

The proposal to create a single federal office to protect against predatory and abusive lending, the Consumer Finance Protection Agency (CFPA), was approved by the Housing Financial Services Committee on October 22.  The bill creating the CFPA, HR 3126, seeks to correct the defects in the federal systems that contributed to the present foreclosure crisis and is one of the legislative priorities the Obama Administration announced earlier in the year.

The CFPA bill was vigorously opposed by banks and a range of other business interests.  Amendments approved by the committee did weaken some elements of the original proposal including exceptions created for car loans and some insurance companies.  Another amendment also enables one federal regulatory agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, to overrule state efforts to regulate national banks in certain circumstances.   Despite changes consumer advocates welcomed the vote by the committee to approve passage.

The legislation now must be considered by another committee before being presented to the full House.  The Senate has not moved forward on its own version of a CFPA proposal.  While the Administration has stated it would like a bill to be approved before the end of the year, author Rep. Barney Frank (D- MA) and others acknowledge final action may not occur until next year.

3)    In the Field: U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Official Mercedes Marquez meets with  National CAPACD groups in San Francisco, CA

On October 22, a delegation of National CAPACD members met with Mercedes Marquez, Assistant Secretary at HUD, to discuss housing development and planning issues.  The meeting, held in San Francisco, was attended by Chinatown Community Development Center, Asian Neighborhood Design, East Bay Asian Local Development Corp., Filipino American Development Corp., Little Tokyo Service Center, and National CAPACD.

Assistant Secretary Marquez directs the Office of Community Planning and Development which administers a wide variety of programs including CDBG, HOME, and NSP.   

Ms. Marquez provided us with an overview of the commitment of the Administration to transform HUD, and to connect housing policy with the initiatives of other departments, particularly transportation.  She emphasized the need to better direct federal investments, encouraging local communities to better utilize CDBG and other dollars to spur ‘at scale’ development through more inclusive planning and highlighting the need for improved mapping of community assets.  She also emphasized the need for planning to prevent displacement caused by gentrification. 

In her presentation she identified some of the tools to accomplish this goal: Consolidated Plans, shifting programs to be more outcome driven, and setting aside pools of competitive funding (such as the Choice Communities).   She expressed particular interest ideas for strengthening the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.  And in general, she emphasized that now is an opportune time to engage with HUD on ideas for reform.

The group of coalition members was able to address specific topics that are of interest to National CAPACD’s membership, which are ‘at scale’ development efforts, transit oriented development, HUD’s technical assistance program, green rehabilitation, and the Neighborhood Stabilization program.  National CAPACD was invited by Assistant Secretary Marquez for a follow-up meeting in December. 

For more information on National CAPACD’s policy and advocacy work, please contact Gen Fujioka, Senior Policy Analyst at .  

4)    Resources: Making Home Affordable materials now available in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese!

Brochures and posters about the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable (MHA) program are now available in Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean.  Thanks to the partnership with Freddie Mac and many of National CAPACD member organizations’ translation efforts, National CAPACD will be making these materials available to our partners and broader network of members.  The materials provide useful information about the Making Home Affordable program, eligibility requirements, and information about accessing the program. 

The Making Home Affordable program was announced by the Obama Administration in February and is currently being implemented by the US Department of the Treasury to bring relief to homeowners that are struggling with their mortgage payments.  The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is primary program being utilized to help struggling borrowers to adjust the terms of their current mortgages to affordable levels.  The program provides incentives for both the bank servicer and the borrower for on-time payments through the HAMP program.  A refinance program is also available for eligible borrowers through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).  Details of each of the programs are outlined in each of the brochures as well as in English online at www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.  There are additional fact sheets available in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog online here:  http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/ads.html

You may now place an order to receive MHA brochures and posters in Chinese, Vietnamese and/or Korean by completing the order form and emailing it to .  Requests may also be faxed to 202-223-4144.

To download the order form click here. 

 5)    National CAPACD Staffing Updates

The National CAPACD family fondly says farewell to two members of its staff team.  Nina Baliga, our Development and Communications Manager completed her tenure with us this month.  We are sad to see Nina go, but wish her well in her next journey in the environmental education and research field.  While Nina was with National CAPACD, she was responsible for the successful overhaul of our website, as well as the development of key communication tools that enhanced our ability to bring our message to the public through the newest developments in technology.  She also assisted in bringing in critical resources that have doubled the revenue of the organization.  Nina will be truly missed!

We also say farewell to Nicci See, our administrative assistant.  Nicci joined National CAPACD after moving to Washington, DC from Ohio in 2008.  While at CAPACD, Nicci found her passion for organizing for social change, and takes this passion with her back to Ohio where she will be finishing her undergraduate education at Ohio State University.  Nicci one day hopes to practice social work, and desires to make a positive impact on youth struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.  We will miss you Nicci!

Thank you Nicci and Nina for all that you have contributed to National CAPACD!

6)    Job Opportunities

 National CAPACD is now hiring for a Development and Communications Manager.  We seek an experienced, energetic individual to implement our development, communications and events processes.  Qualified candidates should send their cover letter, resume, salary history and 2-page writing sample to Romana Lee-Akiyama, Deputy Director at .  This position will remain open until filled. 

To download a description of the Development and Communications Manager position click here.