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]
These are crappy ass katrina-style modular housing units. The $120K price tag is appropriate.
These units will be lucky to outlive their mortgages.
quote:
and the 20% means gross income not 20% of takehome
that’s still an absurd figure tho. oh wait, i forgot clearly it caters to people who think human beings belong in pairs to combine income or something. :-/
okay im out of this thread, my blood pressure is going thru the roof.
*rob*
quote:
Rob, when you have no idea of what you are talking about, please don’t speak.
dont tell me not to speak, i dont EVER say that to you. and yes i KNOW about tons of fraud in these kinds of programs. look it up. granted of COURSE it does help people and does some good, but turning a blind eye and telling people to shut up is wrong.
*rob*
and the 20% means gross income not 20% of takehome
oddly enough, there are MANY programs like this, seriously. the problem is that they are often absurd in nature when it comes to the financials and restrictions. plus a lot of people claim that most people who get deals in these programs “know” people, so a lot of fraud goes on. im not saying this program in particular, but in even in the NYCHA there is TONS AND TONS of fraud.
*rob*
Rob,
lots of us old people spend less….either cause got mortgage long time ago or in RS apt and didn’t move.
Rob, when you have no idea of what you are talking about, please don’t speak.
This is a very successful program, as the jscheff, and accompanying articles say. It emerged at a time when the city had totally forgotten about East New York, and poor people in general. Yes, it was set up by a church, and is named for a biblical figure – so what? The fact is that the lots upon which the houses are built were a wasteland. This well run program gave people hope, and more importantly real housing. Whenever I drive over there, I see well kept blocks of suburban type houses, hardly a ghetto. I think that other programs, especially the city, would do well to emulate their model, especially in terms of guidelines for financing and eligibility.
Personally, one of the best parts of this project is that they did it themselves. A church, clergymen and community, minority run and peopled, got it together and helped solve their own problems. Yes, they got help from the city and other sources, of course, but it is not a HUD program or a city handout. The Nehemiah project is the people doing it and running it, VERY SUCCESSFULLY, themselves, in their community. It’s been lauded since the beginning and should be a model for low income solutions all over the country. The single family house may not be the best solution for everywhere, including other parts of the city, but the administration and the planning behind the houses is sound and well done, indeed.
Great program! Wish there were more like it.
that’s good to hear ENY.
*rob*