This year, on Tuesday, November 29, 2016, Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation is participating in #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving. Last year, more than 45,000 organizations in 71 countries came together to celebrate #GivingTuesday. Since its founding in 2012, #GivingTuesday has inspired giving around the world, resulting in greater donations, volunteer hours, and activities that bring about real change in communities. We invite you to join the movement and help us celebrate 35 years of changing lives through affordable housing. Help us bring Community HOME and donate today!

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VENTURA, Calif. – NeighborWorks® America released its 13th report to Congress detailing the activity of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program and featuring Ventura County’s Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation.

The report features “success stories and profiles that show how effective counseling can be for at-risk homeowners,” over the last eight years and shows how NFMC Program-funded counseling organizations are making a difference one day at a time, according to a NeighborWorks® America press release. Cabrillo was chosen to represent California with the story of Ventura resident Armando Lopez and his family.

Lopez was able to remain in his home after divorce and loss of a second income made it difficult to afford his mortgage. With the help of CEDC and counselor Heidi Reyes, “Lopez is happily living within his means. He feels at peace in his home, and is most appreciative because of the positive effect this has had on his children. His greatest wish was for them to remain happy and stable in their home – and the help he received through Cabrillo EDC made his wish a reality,” the report said.

“It’s a pleasure to work alongside Heidi Reyes who is an expert in the subject matter and who is passionate about making a difference in the lives of families who need assistance in saving their homes. She is an inspiration to our HomeOwnership Center and continues to change many lives in the community for the better,” said Omar Madrigal, HomeOwnership Center Director.

The NFMC program has served more than two million homeowners in the United States, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The NFMC Program was created by Congress to address the nationwide foreclosure crisis by dramatically increasing the availability of housing counseling for families at risk of foreclosure.

Highlights of the report include:

• State by state profiles of 52 homeowners and housing counseling agencies provide examples of the NFMC Program’s impact nationwide. These profiles include: 34 homeowner success stories, and 18 counseling agency feature stories.
• The NFMC Program has awarded more than $802 million to 204 State Housing Finance Agencies, HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Intermediaries, and NeighborWorks Network organizations to provide counseling to distressed homeowners.
• Training funds used to provide 15,227 scholarships to housing counselors, and created three online training courses for which 11,311 certificates of completion were issued.
• The NFMC Program strengthened housing counseling organizations and enhanced their capacity through grant funds that helped them create improved methods of foreclosure counseling, communicate more effectively with mortgage servicers and make process improvements.

The full report and Appendix can be accessed at www.neighborworks.org/2016SeptNFMCReport. The Appendix provides additional information on the following topics:

• Appendix 1: Number of Counseling Units Delivered by State
• Appendix 2: Number of Counseling Units Delivered by Congressional District

For additional information, please contact NeighborWorks’ Office of Public Policy and Legislative Affairs at 202-760-4136 or 202-760-4138 or Jeanette Villanueva, organizational advancement manager at CEDC at (805) 659-3791 ext. 147

The Board of Directors of the Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) is pleased to welcome the addition of housing attorney Ada Cordero-Sacks to its Board of Directors.

Principal of the Law Offices of Ada R. Cordero-Sacks, she is one of Los Angeles’ premier multifamily housing attorneys. An expert in guiding projects through state and federal housing agencies, Cordero-Sacks has helped to create numerous affordable housing projects. Her specialties include representing affordable housing developers of multifamily housing projects from pre-development to placed-in-service; Representing nonprofit owners in refinancing and/or selling their HUD-insured 202/236 projects, transfer of physical assets; as well as representing owners in asset-management compliance issues and unlawful detainers. She also practices immigration law and is a native Spanish speaker.

Prior to going into private practice, Cordero-Sacks worked as an attorney for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles. She is also a member of the American Bar Association (Affordable Housing section), Los Angeles County Bar Association, Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, Mexican American Bar Association, and Delta Theta Phi Law fraternity.

Cordero-Sacks has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Master of Arts in Urban Planning, both from the University of California at Los Angeles. She also earned a Juris Doctorate at the University of West Los Angeles.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are delighted to have someone with Ada’s caliber of expertise in affordable housing  providing leadership to Cabrillo, especially as we undertake a major strategic planning effort,” said Dave Sabedra, President of CEDC’s Board. “She will be a great asset.”