Annual Report

During 2007, Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City celebrated our 25th anniversary with the theme of “A Home Coming: Celebrating 25 Years of Innovation.” All of our celebratory events were memorable, especially our annual Gala, which raised $950,000 to support our important programs. There was little time to enjoy the celebrations, however, as we faced a very challenging environment, stirred by the current mortgage crisis.” More than 14,000 New York homeowners defaulted on their mortgages in 2007, most of them concentrated in the neighborhoods where NHSNYC has historically worked. Clearly, our customer base of largely low- to middle-income, minority New Yorkers needed NHSNYC more than ever. ;We resolved to meet the challenge of the mortgage crisis head-on, providing more support for homeowners in trouble and those at risk of becoming so without cutting back our other services – in education, lending, real estate development and community leadership. Our 2007 results indicate that, while the mortgage crisis is still very much with us, NHSNYC did a superb job during the year. We expanded our foreclosure prevention counseling program to every borough, providing this important counseling and education to 2,160 people, and referred many others to 1-888-995-HOPE, a 24/7 help-line to provide support for callers seeking credit counseling and other services. We started a nonprofit mortgage brokerage, NHS Mortgage Corp., to provide an honest, caring alternative to local and internet brokers who might not have the customers’ best interests at heart. And we launched a rescue loan refinancing tool and a pilot rescue grant program. We also served as key advisors to national, state and city policymakers with great success. All have issued plans to provide support for those in foreclosure difficulties, and there is more to come. Importantly, our 110-member staff provided this increased effort without letting traditional NHSNYC services lapse. We continued to generate high levels of successful activity in education, lending, real estate development and community leadership (please see Pp. 12-13 for specific data). Our theme for 2008 is “Many Voices, One Community: Progress through Partnerships.” We expect to see continuing challenges in our neighborhoods as the impact of the foreclosure crisis spreads. And we expect NHSNYC activities to continue to grow in response, as we work together with our government and corporate partners to keep our communities strong. We hope you share our excitement and pride as we move forward into 2008. Thank you for your continued support.