Chicanos Por La Causa, a promise of opportunity.

Phoenix — Before U.S. President Barack Obama arrived at Central High School to deliver a major announcement on homeownership this morning, he stopped - the only stop other than the speech location – at a Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) affordable housing community subdivision.

Standing just outside of the CPLC home, President Obama said, “Well, listen, I just had a chance to hear from Edmundo and David about this development. Nueva Villas was originally a private development, but the timing obviously was tough because it happened right as the housing market here in Arizona and across the country was plummeting. And because of the great work that this nonprofit has done, but also because of assistance from HUD, what the community has been able to do is, through a nonprofit, purchase some of these homes that were empty and vacant, hire local residents to help reconstruct them, and now they’re able to make homes available to working families. A family of four that maybe makes $40,000 or $60,000 a year has a chance to buy a beautiful home in a terrific neighborhood.”

“We are really excited to have hosted President Obama at our project Nueva Villas,” said Edmundo Hidalgo, CPLC President and CEO. “This is a validation not only to the quality of work CPLC does but also that the President cares about the families that CPLC serves. Having the President visit south Phoenix is truly sending a signal that he really cares about all communities and that he made this specific stop because it was very relevant to his visit to Arizona and the announcement he made at Central High School.”

Today, President Obama announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will lower mortgage insurance premium rates by 0.5 percentage points, a move that could help homebuyers save as much as $900 a year.

“We are very pleased that the President has taken an executive order to reduce the private mortgage insurance on FHA loans. We understand that the premium had been increasing in order to ensure that HUD mortgage insurance fund was saved but we recognize that the market has recovered and there are less loans that are being foreclosed upon. We felt that this was a step in the right direction to ensure that families have the ability to qualify for the most affordable mortgage insurance possible,” stated Hidalgo.

CPLC offers a holistic approach in assisting homebuyers and homeowners. CPLC is committed to providing programs and services that enable people who might not otherwise be able to, to acquire affordable, quality housing. We develop and build affordable single-family housing units for medium to low-income families in economically-distressed neighborhoods. In addition, CPLC Housing Counseling is a HUD-approved counseling agency with more than 30 years of experience in the development of affordable housing in urban and rural areas. CPLC currently offers counseling services in Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson, Nogales, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Contact
María Jesús Cervantes
Media and Public Relations
(602) 257-0700
MariaJesus.Cervantes@CPLC.org