Annual Report

Annual Report 2008
From the Chief Executive Officer and the Board President

Dear Friend:

Last year at this time, we cautioned that “we face a very challenging environment, stirred by the current ‘mortgage crisis.’” The challenges we faced in 2008, however, exceeded all our expectations. While we anticipated that the subprime mortgage crisis would dramatically increase the demand for NHS’ foreclosure counseling in 2008, we did not foresee the extent of the credit crunch, the impact on the financial markets or the global reach of the current economic woes. All of this has combined to make 2008 our most difficult year, by far, since NHS was founded in 1982. And these challenges will certainly continue through 2009.

More than ever, our customers, traditional hardworking New Yorkers, need help. They need foreclosure prevention counseling, homeownership education, and access to responsible, innovative loans that support energy-efficient, healthy homes. And we are very proud to report that the NHS staff is working extremely hard to fulfill those needs. We provided foreclosure prevention counseling in 2008 to 2,471 families. We have helped 1,032 New York City families receive responsible loans and grants of over $185 million to buy, repair or keep their homes. And we have provided homeownership education to over 11,000 New Yorkers. We were also instrumental in the founding of The Center for New York Neighborhoods, an independent, not-for-profit entity through which New York City, the New York City Council and not-for-profit partners like NHS can coordinate and expand services to residents at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Despite the challenges we face, NHS continues to work hard to deliver services to underserved neighborhoods, which need our support more than ever. And we are working to lead the charge, as we were consulted during 2008 by both the national Democratic and Republican parties, who asked for our input on how HUD might better serve today’s needs; by the New York State Governor’s Office, who sought NHS’ participation in the development of landmark legislation to protect New Yorkers from mortgage abuses; by Members of Congress, who asked for our help on neighborhood stabilization initiatives; and by NYSERDA, which asked us to work together with them to promote home repairs that increase energy efficiency.

NHS, through our network of Neighborhood Offices, will continue to do what we have always done: rely on our partnerships with residents, the private sector and government to build solutions to today’s housing challenges. We are, as our 2008 theme says, “Many Voices, One Community.” We believe more than ever in the Vision, Mission and Values that have guided us for more than 25 years and are confident that, with the continued support of our partners, we will be able to help New York City families remain financially and emotionally secure in their homes into the future.