NeighborWorks America Recognizes National Hispanic Heritage Month

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - Sep 12, 2012) - Today NeighborWorks America salutes the leaders of Hispanic heritage, at its organization and others, who serve as examples of top-notch leadership in the community development field and beyond. NeighborWorks America, which creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities, supports a network of more than 235 nonprofits, located in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Leaders of Hispanic heritage in the NeighborWorks network guide and serve as role models for the next generation of professionals in affordable housing. Examples of exceptional leaders at NeighborWorks America and in the NeighborWorks network are the following:

• Marietta Rodriguez, National Director, Home Ownership and Lending, NeighborWorks America. As director, Rodriguez leads homeownership education, mortgage lending and foreclosure prevention efforts of NeighborWorks America which include 106 one-stop homeowner centers for consumers. Additionally, she manages two public awareness campaigns with the Ad Council. One campaign focuses on building public awareness on loan modification scams and the other campaign focuses on foreclosure intervention. Rodriguez has been with NeighborWorks since 1998.
• Matt Huerta, Executive Director, Neighborhood Housing Services of Silicon Valley. Huerta leads a team of 20 professionals providing Home Ownership and Foreclosure Intervention Counseling, Lending, Realty Services, and Community Building and Organizing efforts to support low- and moderate- income earners in Silicon Valley. Huerta has over 11 years of experience in the Housing and Community Development industry. Prior to joining Neighborhood Housing Services of Silicon Valley, Huerta was the Director of Development at South County Housing in Gilroy.
• Felicia Diaz, Director of Homeownership Services, NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley. Diaz has been with NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley's Home Ownership Center since it opened in 2005. She started in the field on 1999 at The Elmwood Foundation, now known as Community Works Rhode Island. Diaz holds NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling professional certificates in Pre- and Post- Purchase Homebuyer Education, Credit Counseling for Maximum Results, Mortgage Lending, Loan Portfolio Management, Loan Servicing and Collection, Foreclosure Intervention and Mortgage Default Counseling, Post-Purchase Systems, Certified Reverse Mortgage Counseling, and many more.

"NeighborWorks America recognizes diversity and the importance of celebrating all of our cultures as essential to building and maintaining strong communities," said NeighborWorks America CEO Eileen Fitzgerald.

Additionally, the NeighborWorks network consistently serves low- and moderate- income individuals and families of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, including Hispanic, helping them to achieve homeownership and maintain their homes. NeighborWorks organizations served over 18,000 Hispanic-headed households in rental housing in 2011. Nearly 20% of new homeowners the NeighborWorks network assisted were Hispanic. NeighborWorks America manages two education and awareness campaigns that provide information in Spanish for homeowners. The Loan Scam Alert campaign (Fraude A La Modifición de Préstamo Alerta) educates consumers about loan modification scams and how to report them and The Right People campaign (La Gente Correcta) utilizes public service announcements to direct millions of homeowners to trusted foreclosure intervention assistance. NeighborWorks America also offers six of its courses in Spanish, including Elementos Básicos de la Ejecución Hipotecaria - Foreclosure Basics (HO109sp), Consejería para la Compra de Vivienda - Introduction to Homeownership Counseling (HO110sp), and Aptitud Financiera: Enseñando Destrezas de Administración Financiera - Delivering Effective Financial Education for Today's Consumer (HO209sp).

About NeighborWorks America

NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $19.5 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.