Fault the Nehemiah Corp. for excessive loan defaults, but not for what the non-profit is doing to help return decaying neighborhoods to the prosperous communities they once were.

The nation's leading provider of downpayment gift assistance has been taken to task by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Inspector General's Office for backing too many home buyers who can't make their house payments.

But in recent weeks, the Sacramento-based Nehemiah has raised the bar for all groups which help provide the seed money that enables thousands of otherwise qualified families to take that all-important first step up the ownership ladder.

Nehemiah has donated $1 million to HomeAid America to help fund the creation of local chapters to help fulfill its mission of building and renovating shelters for the temporarily homeless throughout the country.

It also raised $26 million in first-round financing for a real estate equity fund to invest in mixed-use development projects in low and moderate-income neighborhoods throughout a six-county Sacramento region as well as in Lodi, Stockton and Modesto, Calif.

Only the third equity fund of its kind in the Golden State and the first in the state's capital region, the Nehemiah Sacramento Valley Fund will provide long-term financing to for-profit and non-profit developers dedicated to building mixed-use affordable housing and commercial facilities in underserved markets.

It also will back "inner city" shopping centers and office projects that don't have a housing component. The fund "is a significant part of our organization's overall strategy to encourage urban renewal through comprehensive, geographically-focused redevelopment," said Nehemiah's president, Scott Syphax. The fund will act as a vehicle that will not only allow investors to achieve significant financial returns but also permit them to support the communities they serve, Syphax said.

The new fund will be managed by Pacific Coast Capital Partners and modeled after the Bay Area Smart Growth Fund, which also is run by PCCP, and the Genesis LA fund. Investors include Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo Bank. California Federal Bank and the California State Automobile Association. "Investing in inner-city communities within the Sacramento Valley is critical to the economic growth and stability of our state capital as well as the state," said a Pacific Coast Capital spokesman.

"There is a tremendous amount of buying power in these neighborhoods as well as a strong employment base. We are confident the organizations that participate in the fund will realize a real return in their investments." The fund expects to close on a second and third round of equity investment funding by June. In addition to the direct dollar contribution to HomeAid, which will made over a four-year period, Nehemiah and HomeAid have agreed to partner special needs transitional housing projects through the Nehemiah Urban Land Trust.

The Trust will purchase facilities that house supportive housing social service agencies.

Nehemiah, which has provided more than $421 million in downpayment assistance since its inception in 1997, helping some 125,000 families achieve home ownership status in the process, has several partnerships like the one it is forming with HomeAid.

It is involved with the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a venture called CitiesFirst, a program dedicated to creating affordable housing opportunities. And it has partnered with Habitat for Humanity. The pact "will be instrumental in helping is continue to provide new hope for even more men, women and children," said HomeAid's Michael Lennon.

Published: March 5, 2003

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.