Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp extolled the economic and social benefits of homeownership and praised the HOPE partnership for its efforts to improve minority homeownership during his keynote address at the HOPE (Home Ownership Participation for Everyone) Awards Luncheon Wednesday at the National Press Club. 

Kemp spoke at length about owning your own home changes your perspective.  “You don’t need to tell people to improve that which they own.  As soon as they own something, improvement begins to take place, not only in the physical asset of a piece of property and the home, but also in the mental attitude of the family that gets the ownership.”

“The definition of a palace is not that which is measured in acres.  It’s measured by what you own... You are in the business of bringing mansions to low and middle income and any income American.  You are the most important business in this country, in my view, of making the American dream a reality.  Thanks to all the HOPE Award recipients because you are making it happen.  By celebrating your success, we are celebrating the success of our country,” Kemp said.

NAR President Richard Mendenhall opened the luncheon by acknowledging that the seven HOPE Award winners have helped over 150,000 minorities become homeowners.  He concluded the program by setting a goal that homeownership ought to look like America.  “Regardless of skin color, we should parity in homeownership.  We can make a difference in people’s lives that way,” Mendenhall said.

Immediately following the luncheon, each winner discussed their work and shared their common experiences with the HOPE Award partners and housing policy leaders at a symposium moderated by Kenneth Harney, nationally syndicated real estate columnist for the Washington Post.  Six organizations and one individual were recognized with the first HOPE Awards for their innovative work to promote minority homeownership.  Each winner received a $10,000 honorarium and a statuette at the HOPE Awards Gala Dinner Wednesday evening at the National Building Museum in Washington.

HOPE Award categories include homeownership education, real estate brokerage, finance, project of the year, public policy, leadership and leadership.  Winners were selected from nearly 200 nominations on the basis of impact, innovation, minority focus, and contributions to affordable housing and minority acceptance by a panel of expert judges including Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Congressman John L. Lewis (D-Ga); Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif); Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University; and F. Barton Harvey III, Chairman and CEO of the Enterprise Foundation.  The 2001 HOPE Award winners are:

BROKERAGE CATEGORY 

California Capital Companies, Ontario, CA.  Alfonso, Alex and Jimmy Espinoza formed the California Capital Companies to meet the needs of first-time Hispanic homebuyers.  The company’s efforts have resulted in more than 10,000 families achieving their dreams.  Tactics have included a Spanish language radio show on KNSE, and "customer for life" program to educate consumers, and a kiosk program that brings real estate services directly to the Latino community through kiosks in grocery stores.

EDUCATION CATEGORY

Home Loan Counseling Center-Sacramento, Sacramento, CA.  SHLCC was formed to provide homeownership counseling that is "...essential if we are to close the gap in homeownership rates across race and economic boundaries."  The Center offers a series of workshops reaching pre- and post-purchase families in English, Spanish and, soon, in Russian.  By partnering with different organizations throughout the community, SHLCC is able to recruit volunteers from the real estate industry and reach prospective minority homeowners through area employers, churches and community groups.  SHLCC also uses radio and print ads, and multi-language marketing materials.  Since its inception in 1991, SHLCC has reached more than 50,000 individuals

FINANCE CATEGORY

Self Help Credit Union, Durham, NC.  Self Help's mission is to expand home ownership among people traditionally underserved by the banking system, especially minorities and low-income households.  The Self-Help Community Advantage Home Loan Secondary Market Program, a partnership with the Ford Foundation, Fannie Mae and HUD, has helped to expand minority homeownership nationwide.  Self Help outreach includes loan officer presentations to African-American church congregations.  Self Help also works in the Latino community, and has over 25 employees with Spanish language training.  Since its inception, it has helped 7,000 minority families through innovative financing and education programs in its six North Carolina offices

BUILDER CATEGORY

Northeast Florida Builders Association, Jacksonville, FL.  This 1600 member association responded to the minority housing needs of Jacksonville by forming a partnership with Habijax, the local Habitat affiliate.  It helped to organize 10,000 volunteers and 24 homebuilders to build 101 homes in 17 days.  The small city serves low income and primarily minority homeowners.  Such national leaders as former President Jimmy Carter, former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp and Habitat founder Millard Fuller participated in the build. 

PUBLIC POLICY CATEGORY

Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORSÒ, Lutherville, MD.  In the late fall of 1998, GBBR became aware of widespread fraudulent real estate practices occurring in Baltimore City that were targeted towards African-American women.  GBBR identified these as serious barriers to legitimate homeownership because they essentially guaranteed that the targeted minority buyers would be forced into foreclosure.  GBBR launched a comprehensive $300,000 education campaign consisting of radio and television spots, and billboards and transit ads.  It also includes homebuyer seminars in minority neighborhoods.

LEADERSHIP CATEGORY

Vincent Quayle, St. Ambrose Center, Baltimore, MD.  Vincent Quayle, a former Jesuit priest, formed St. Ambrose Center 33 years ago to combat the "block busting" that was destroying home ownership in Baltimore's racially changing neighborhoods.  St. Ambrose offers four different counseling programs and three housing development programs.  Since 1970, St. Ambrose has guided over 6,000 families, primarily African Americans, through the home buying process.  His greatest achievement has been to help change the attitudes of Baltimore's local lending community towards African-American buyers and the neighborhoods into which they were buying.

MEDIA CATEGORY

ARK Communication, Millbrae, CA.  ARK Communication formed Bayhouseinfo.com to serve the needs of the Bay Area's Chinese American population with a real estate web site in both Chinese and English.  It was the first and probably still the only Chinese-English real estate web site.  In addition to listings, the site contains information on neighborhoods, schools and businesses.  Some 100 real estate brokers list their properties on the site

The HOPE Awards were developed to recognize outstanding contributions by individuals and organizations to promote homeownership by minorities. The awards are sponsored by a partnership of six real estate associations: the California Association of Real Estate Brokers, the Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association of Southern California, the Chinese Real Estate Association of America, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and the National Association of RealtorsÒ.  Co-sponsoring organizations are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Council of La Raza, Habitat for Humanity International, REALTOR.com, Century-21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA Real Estate.

Published: October 12, 2001

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