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HUD Announces Nearly $25 Million in 'Sweat Equity' Grants |
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NEW ORLEANS - More than 1,500 families will realize their American Dream with a little elbow grease and $24.8 million in grants announced today by Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Pamela Patenaude. HUD is awarding these so-called "sweat equity grants" to four national and regional organizations through the Department's Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP). Patenaude made the announcement as she joined Habitat for Humanity volunteers constructing 15 affordable homes in Covington, Louisiana. First constructed in Rockefeller Center in New York, Jackson, Mississippi, and as far away as Los Angeles, these homes are being reassembled throughout the Gulf Coast region and will eventually provide affordable homes for hurricane evacuees. These funds are used to purchase land and make improvements on infrastructure, which together may not exceed an average investment of $15,000 per dwelling. These non-profit organizations propose to distribute SHOP funds to several hundred local affiliates that will acquire the land, select homebuyers, coordinate the homebuyer and volunteer efforts for sweat equity, and assist in the arrangement of interim and permanent financing for the homebuyers. Homebuyers contribute a minimum of 100 hours of sweat equity on the construction of their homes and/or the homes of other homebuyers participating in the local self-help housing program. Labor contributed by volunteers also helps buyers who are unable to perform their sweat equity tasks due to disabilities or other reasons. Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) is awarded a SHOP grant in the amount of $10,773,000. HFHI is a national nonprofit organization that will use SHOP funds in rural, metropolitan, and urban areas to facilitate and encourage innovative homeownership opportunities through the provision of self-help housing. Completed properties will be transferred to homebuyers who contribute a significant amount of sweat equity, in addition to other volunteer labor, toward the construction of the unit. HAC is a national nonprofit organization that will use SHOP funds in primarily rural areas for land acquisition and infrastructure improvements that support new construction. A portion of the SHOP award will be used for administration, planning and management development. Community Frameworks is awarded a SHOP grant in the amount of $4,500,000. ACORN Housing Corporation (ACORN) is awarded a SHOP grant in the amount of $572,000.
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