East New York's Nehemiah Housing Proving Resilient
When the Nehemiah project launched in the 1980s, it sold houses to residents of East New York for as little as $39,000. The church-run program would buy abandoned, city-owned properties and erect inexpensive homes for residents that met the program’s strict financial credibility checks. Nowadays, Nehemiah (named after the post-exile Biblical character who rebuilt Jerusalem)…
When the Nehemiah project launched in the 1980s, it sold houses to residents of East New York for as little as $39,000. The church-run program would buy abandoned, city-owned properties and erect inexpensive homes for residents that met the program’s strict financial credibility checks. Nowadays, Nehemiah (named after the post-exile Biblical character who rebuilt Jerusalem) homes sell for as much as $120,000, but this is still well below market rates for similar properties. NPR profiled the organization this week, pointing out that the project has stringent financial checks to ensure that applicants are not involved in any criminal activity and to ensure that they will not default on their mortgages (applicants can spend no more than 20 percent of their income on the mortgage; no more than ten out of over 4,000 homes have been foreclosed in the program’s entire history). Zandra Brockman, an applicant to the program, said the application process was worth the result: “Where else could we live at the prices we had?” she told NPR. “It was truly a blessing for us.” The article adds that applicants who are rejected often organize their finances and re-apply later successfully. Sarah Plowden, who works for Nehemiah and also owns a home through the program, said: “We more than just bought homes. We bought into one another as a people.”
Low-Cost Brooklyn Housing Sees Few Foreclosures [NPR]
Affordable Houses Infused With Color [NY Times]
Low-Income? You’re Kidding! [NY Magazine]
“applicants can spend no more than 20 percent of their income on the mortgage;
that figure is RIDICULOUS”
No it aint. 47 grand a year for a 122 grand house and you’re there. It’s called affordability. That’s why the program is resilient. That’s why the market at large is falling in half.
***Bill Thompson for Mayor***
“the fact that the development is named after some ridiculous biblical character is sketchy as hell.”
“perhaps it would be nice to keep personal insults out of a discussion?”
Predictable.
and also specifically targeting “people of faith” should be totally illegal.
*rob*
Rob,
With a $96k mortage, the monthly payment is only $585, which means the person would only have to make $32k a year.
Actually, why am i wasting time reponding to your post? Oh well, back to work.
quote:
not by fraud as one totally pathetic character with a keyboard suggests
perhaps it would be nice to keep personal insults out of a discussion? people are allowed to have their opinions on things like this, and those two examples are NOT the norm no matter how much you pretend it to be.
and a 120,000 house in ENY is NOT affordable no matter how much you think it is.
*rob*
It’ a shame that successful projects like this don’t get more play. they’re inspiring and show people there really is a way to accomplish great goals.
rob- you really need to read up on stuff. Instead of always starting out with a negative, find out first.
Well, I am a former member of St. Paul Community Baptist — the East New York church that was the engine behind the Nehemiah project. As such, and unlike Rob, I know from where I speak on this subject and I do not hesitate to commend the pastor and the people who brought the vision of the Nehemiah project from dreams to reality. Indeed, I personally know each of the homeowners who are quoted in this article as well as their back story. They are hardworking, honest, working class people of faith who, having bought into the American dream of homeownership, actually managed to purchase a little piece of the pie. Be assured that they did so, not by fraud as one totally pathetic character with a keyboard suggests, but rather by applying their hope and faith, activism and perserverance, and some economic discipline.
The Nehemiah Houses represent truly affordable housing in an area that was transformed from a urban wasteland into a healthy and vibrant neighborhood in East New York. The houses are small and of simple construction, attractive and well kept. The surrounding streets of the area are clean, quiet and safe.
I must say, in the midst of all the grim news about the economy and the real estate market, it was a real pleasure to click on Brownstoner today and to see a thread like this. Thanks!
Rob, when I look at an article and the first comment I see is you saying something so unenlightened and uniformed as “the fact that the development is named after some ridiculous biblical character is sketchy as hell”, I’m going to say so. You know NOTHING about the project, other than the paragraph written above, and instead of finding out more, you, who can’t manage to google the location of a restaurant, are going to pass judgement on the project based solely on your long standing resentment of housing lotteries and low income housing in general. Every time there is a piece on some kind of housing lottery, or program that gets people into housing, you have issues with it, and always insinuate that they are fixed or their is fraud. There has never been any accusations of that here, only kudos for an ambitious and successful project.
You will note, that I said “please don’t speak”, I could have said much worse. If you are entitled to your knee jerk reactionary comments to everything, and you are, then I am entitled to call it uniformed and ignorant. You are capable of great insight sometimes, I wish you would just think of the possibility that there are things out there that you don’t know the facts of, and perhaps it’s better to either find out, or not say anything.
Rob, when you have no idea of what you are talking about, please don’t speak.
I’m waiting for the day when you have accomplish something than taking pot shots at people who have their own homes, even when the spend only 20% of the their gross income on housing.
Besides, speaking when you have no idea have gotten you to exactly where you are today.