Atlanta Regional Foreclosure Initiative Wins National Award

Piece by Piece Recognized by National Housing Conference with Housing Visionary Award

(Atlanta, Georgia) The National Housing Conference (NHC) will honor metro Atlanta’s Piece by Piece foreclosure response initiative today with the 2015 Housing Visionary Award at its annual gala in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes organizations or individuals shaping the path forward for affordable housing in America through leadership, innovation and a focus on people, communities and partnership.

The Piece by Piece Initiative, staffed by Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP), was created in 2010 to bolster regional response to the foreclosure crisis and its impact on metro Atlanta families and neighborhoods. This unprecedented approach to combatting the foreclosure crisis engaged more than 155 public and private organizations and was guided by a leadership group that includes ANDP, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Clearpoint Counseling, Enterprise Community Partners, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, The Home Depot Foundation, the National Housing Conference and NeighborWorks America.

“NHC is pleased to recognize ANDP and Piece by Piece for their work in stabilizing metro Atlanta neighborhoods and for crafting a unique partnership that engages hundreds of organizations and neighborhood leaders in the effort,” said NHC President Chris Estes. “By focusing on issues of property taxes, negative equity, code enforcement, housing counseling, loan modifications and more, Piece by Piece has helped metro Atlantans toward a path of greater neighborhood recovery.”

In the last five years, Piece by Piece has convened sector-specific groups including local government housing departments, housing counseling agencies, lenders and policy makers. The initiative has also brought leading private equity firms to Atlanta to discuss their acquisitions and impact on local neighborhoods. Piece by Piece events have featured former HUD Secretaries Henry Cisneros and Shaun Donovan, and most recently, NeighborWorks America CEO, Paul Weech.

“We are pleased to accept this recognition on behalf of 155 metro Atlanta partner organizations. We also acknowledge the guidance and support of our leadership organizations. Together, we’ve crafted a regional response to attack the crisis on multiple fronts to help stabilize families and neighborhoods hit hard by the lingering impacts of the crisis,” said ANDP President & CEO John O’Callaghan. “We applaud the work of NHC, the nation’s oldest housing advocacy organization, to maintain a strong spotlight on affordable housing and community development.”

In addition to Piece by Piece, NHC will also recognize The Community Properties Initiative led by Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing.

For more details about NHC and its Housing Visionary Award, visit www.nhc.org

For more details about the Piece by Piece Initiative, visit www.piecebypieceatlanta.org