Neighborhood Housing Services Of New Haven, Inc.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven (NHS) is a nonprofit, community-based organization that has been serving the housing and homeownership needs of low- and moderate-income people in New Haven since 1980. A chartered member of the national NeighborWorks® Network, NHS’ mission is to increase homeownership; make homes functional, beautiful and affordable; and help residents take charge of their neighborhoods by building partnerships with area residents, business leaders, and city officials.

Description:
NHS builds or renovates 12-15 houses each year for sale to low- and moderate-income families and also helps hundreds more families purchase homes on the open market. Every NHS homebuyer is made prepared for the homeownership process through the varied classes, individual counseling, and financial assistance programs administered through the New Haven HomeOwnership Center, a subsidiary of NHS.

NHS is now expanding programming to include post-purchase support by offering foreclosure intervention counseling and three new innovative initiatives: the Revitalization Demonstration Project (RDP), a holistic strategy to affect neighborhood renewal through individual homeownership and greater community engagement; the Home Improvement and Energy Conservation Laboratory, a hands-on teaching facility; and the Home Maintenance and Energy Conservation Individual Development Account to match homeowner savings toward energy conservation methods.

Ultimately, NHS combines housing development, specialized lending programs, homeowner education, and community mobilization to successfully transform blighted neighborhoods into neighborhoods of choice. Family by family, house by house, NHS is positioning New Haven’s neighborhoods to succeed.

History:
Since its inception in 1980, NHS has developed to be a leading non-profit provider of affordable homeownership services in the Greater New Haven area. Over the past 28 years, NHS has helped approximately 600 families buy their first home; developed 367 affordable housing units with another 28 presently under construction through our own rehab department; and worked consistently with resident groups, city officials and community partners to strengthen neighborhoods block by block.

In 2001, NHS opened the New Haven HomeOwnership Center (HOC) to expand homeowner support services in the areas of homebuyer education, counseling, and financial literacy. As such, the HOC serves as a “one stop shop” for prospective first-time homebuyers in the Greater New Haven area and has provided pre-purchase education to more than 2,000 clients. With the incorporation of the HOC and its services, NHS works to ensure that our clients not only buy a house, but also responsibly retain it for years to come.

Contact people:

Jim Paley, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Stephen Cremin-Endes, Volunteer Manager, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (203) 772-2876

Address:

333 Sherman Avenue New Haven, CT 06511 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.nhsofnewhaven.org

Last updated on May 4, 2009