HOPE Award Winners Remove Barriers to Minority Homeownership

WASHINGTON, DC, Apr 22 (MARKET WIRE) --
This year's HOPE Awards (Home Ownership Participation for Everyone)
winners exemplify the efforts of countless individuals and organizations
across the country committed to closing the minority housing gap. Award
recipients are selected for their outstanding leadership and achievement
in helping minority families realize and sustain their homeownership
dreams, forever enhancing and changing their lives.

The 2009 HOPE Awards winners are the Korean Churches for Community
Development, Los Angeles (Education Award); Illinois Assistive Technology
Program, Springfield, Ill. (Finance Award); Community Reinvestment
Association of North Carolina, Durham, N.C. (Media Award); Chris McCarthy,
Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity (Leadership Award); and Affordable
Homes of South Texas Inc., McAllen, Texas (Project of the Year Award).

HOPE Awards winners receive $10,000 and a $1,500 gift card from cosponsor
Lowe's. On May 12 the winners will present their programs and answer
questions from journalists and industry experts at a symposium moderated
by national real estate columnist Ken Harney. Later that evening, HOPE
Awards winners will be recognized at a gala dinner and ceremony at the
National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Sachi Koto, former anchor of
CNN Headline News, will emcee the event.

The HOPE Awards is a national industry awards program that was created in
2001 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made outstanding
contributions to increasing minority homeownership, revitalizing
communities and expanding affordable housing opportunities. The awards are
conferred every other year.

The HOPE Awards is sponsored by a partnership of real estate
organizations: the Asian Real Estate Association America, Chinese
American Real Estate Professionals Association, Chinese Real Estate
Association of America, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate
Professionals, National Association of Real Estate Brokers, and the
National Association of Realtors(R).

A panel of distinguished judges selected the final winners from more than
100 applications. The judges were Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Congressman Wm. Lacy
Clay (D-Mo.); Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for
Housing Studies of Harvard University; Steven Nesmith, former Assistant
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and partner, Holland & Knight
and Judge Lillian K. Sing, San Francisco Superior Court.

Award winners were chosen based on impact, innovation, minority focus,
contributions to affordable housing and minority acceptance. The 2009 HOPE
Awards winners are:

EDUCATION AWARD

Korean Churches for Community Development, Hyepin Im, Los Angeles

KCCD was founded in 2001 as a nonprofit faith-based organization that
serves as a bridge between the Asian American community and the greater
community. The goal is to increase access to resources and funds to assist
low income individuals, strengthen nonprofits and revitalize area
neighborhoods. The organization does this by helping remove cultural,
linguistic, and economic barriers through education, economic development
programs and strategic public and private partnerships. KCCD has provided
homebuyer education and counseling to more than 5,000 individuals and is
helping to sustain homeownership in the L.A. area and other parts of the
country through foreclosure prevention and loss mitigation counseling.
Since 2007, KCCD has helped over 1,700 homeowners in distress.

FINANCE AWARD

Illinois Assistive Technology Program, Robin Benson, Springfield, Ill.

IATP is a non-profit organization dedicated to enabling people with
disabilities to fully participate in all aspects of life. The organization
also oversees the Homeownership Coalition for People with Disabilities,
which since 2002 has helped more than 300 people with disabilities and
their families statewide achieve greater levels of independence through
homeownership. The group is committed to assisting all people, regardless
of their disability, in purchasing and maintaining their own home through
comprehensive pre- and post-purchase support, allowing them to live in the
community as independently as possible.

LEADERSHIP AWARD

Chris McCarthy, Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity, Nashville, Tenn.

Chris retired in 2000 from a career in business, only to come out of
retirement a few years later to take over as CEO of the NAHFH. Under
Chris's leadership, NAHFH has grown tremendously in recent years -- from
building 10 to 15 homes each year to upwards of 60 homes locally and
globally. NAHFH has been recognized in the top one percent of the nation's
Habitat affiliates and received the EPA's Energy Star Partner of the Year
Award, the first Habitat affiliate to receive this award. In 2007, Chris
led the development of one of the largest all-Habitat neighborhoods in the
U.S.; the 43-acre community has 138 homes as well as play lots, walking
trails and picnic facilities. Chris is now leading the construction of two
more communities, with a potential of 500 more homes.

MEDIA AWARD

Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Peter Skillern,
Durham, N.C.

CRA-NC created Nuestro Barrio, a Spanish-language mini-series about
Hispanic life in the U.S. While Nuestro Barrio's objective is to educate
viewers, the telenovela, or soap opera format, helps engage and entertain
viewers on a variety of issues including homeownership, finances and
banking, and health and wellness. The program has been broadcast to more
than 25 million households and 60,000 DVDs of the program have been
distributed through high schools, financial institutions, and nonprofit
partners.

PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Affordable Homes of South Texas Inc., Robert Calvillo, McAllen, Texas

AHSTI is a non-profit housing initiative that provides education and
homeownership opportunities to low income residents in South Texas. AHSTI
acts as land developer, general contractor and a full-service mortgage
provider. Since 1976 the organization has placed more than 2,800 families
into homes, nearly 40 percent of those were single parent families. With a
loan portfolio of over $36 million and a total past due delinquency rate
of less than 5% and annual new home production of 100 homes per year,
AHSTI is the largest non-profit housing producer in South Texas.

Cosponsors for the 2009 HOPE Awards are Lowe's, the Real Estate Buyer's
Agent Council, Realogy, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21,
Coldwell Banker, ERA, NRT LLC and Sotheby's International Realty.

For more information about the HOPE Awards, visit www.hopeawards.org.

For further information contact:
Sara Weis
202/383-1013
National Association of Realtors(R)
Email Contact

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