Kara Lachapelle,
Chief Financial Officer
Providence, RI — RIHousing has been awarded just over $112,000 in funds from NeighborWorks America’s new Housing Stability Counseling Program (HSCP) to help Rhode Island homeowners facing foreclosure and housing instability. The HSCP aims to help eligible nonprofits and agencies provide direct housing counseling services to individuals and families facing housing instability, such as foreclosure and homelessness.
“These funds come at a critical time for Rhode Island families,” said Carol Ventura, Executive Director of RIHousing. “Many Rhode Island homeowners are struggling to make their mortgage payments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and forbearance protections for many homeowners will soon be expiring.”
Funded via the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, NeighborWorks America designed the HSCP for nationwide implementation, making more than $88 million in funding awards to 131 organizations. There was a very high demand for HSCP funds as NeighborWorks received grant requests totaling over $348 million, more than 4 times the amount of funding available. RIHousing is one of only 18 state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) to be awarded funding from this new program.
RIHousing will use the funding to provide counseling services to Rhode Island homeowners via the agency’s HelpCenter. Funding will support additional staffing and outreach to underserved and low-income homeowners. More information on the HSCP can be found here.
“The RIHousing HelpCenter has been an important resource for Rhode Island homeowners since its opening in 2007,” noted Ventura. “Since that time, HelpCenter counselors have helped thousands of families remain in their homes and we will be able to expand our reach with these critical funds.”
Rhode Island homeowners will soon have a new mortgage assistance program available to them with the upcoming launch of RIHousing’s Homeowner Assistance Fund Program (HAF-RI). Once launched, eligible homeowners struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for financial assistance for a range of housing-related expenses including: mortgage arrearages, monthly mortgage payments, principal reduction and other housing-related expenses such as utilities, flood or mortgage insurance, property taxes, homeowner association fees, and condominium association fees. Homeowners can visit www.HAF-RI.com to sign up for updates on the HAF-RI program, including the program launch date.
