Neighborhood Partnerships

One in eleven homeowners in Oregon is either in foreclosure or has a mortgage 30 or more days in default. One in five homeowners are underwater on their mortgages owing more than the home is worth.

Homeowners are suffering from the resulting stress and uncertainty, their neighbors are feeling the impacts of vacant homes, and our communities and economies are bearing the costs.

Homeowners need decisive action so that they take steps to re-build their lives, and communities need decisive action to re-build Oregon. Oregonians are counting on the Legislature to:

• Guarantee a fair chance: Protect homeowners from the “dual track”, by requiring that banks not foreclose on homeowners who are in the process of modifying their mortgage. Pass SB 1564.

• Guarantee good information: Require banks to offer a meeting with homeowners, before a neutral third party mediator, before foreclosure begins. Pass SB 1552A.

• Invest Wisely: Use the funds coming in to Oregon as part of the Attorneys General settlement with five national banks to help all homeowners who are in foreclosure, in default, or who owe more than their homes are worth.

Last week, NP’s Janet Byrd co-authored an op-ed abut the Foreclosure crisis and important action by the Legislature. The good news is SB 1552 and SB 1564 passed the Senate! Now they move on to the House, and we meed your help. Its time to call your Representative and ask them to help make sure these important bills are heard in Committee and moved to the House floor.

Those who say we’ve done enough on foreclosure are wrong – Oregonians are still suffering and these bills would make a significant different in people’s lives. These bills would provide homeowners with timely and accurate information about their choices and ensure a fair and reliable process prior to foreclosure. Please tell your Representative that our communities cannot wait until 2013 for decisive action, and to please vote yes on SB 1552 and SB 1564. The foreclosure crisis will continue to drag down our families and our economy until action is taken by the Legislature to provide homeowners access to good information and guarantees of fair dealing.

The following article appeared in Saturday’s Oregonian. NP’s Janet Byrd and Israel Bayer of Street Roots and Bill Hall, a Lincoln County Commissioner co-authored this op-ed about the importance of addressing housing issues during the current legislative session. You can view it online here.

Legislative session: Housing, homelessness issues should be on agenda

Published: Saturday, February 11, 2012, 4:00 AM

By Israel Bayer, Janet Byrd and Bill Hall

The Oregon Legislature got some good news for our communities this week. Lawmakers heard from forecasters that the economy is beginning to stabilize and show some signs of recovery, and that state revenues have leveled off after many quarters of continued downturn and loss.

Now is not the time for us to relax, and neither can our lawmakers. The list of bad news continues to be long: Our neighbors, friends, schoolchildren and grandparents still need our help. The ripple effects of the economic devastation have touched all of us personally and all of the systems we have created as a community. Our schools, our nonprofit service providers, our churches and faith institutions are struggling to meet the needs they see. Homelessness is at a peak, rental housing is in short supply, rents are too high for average workers to afford, and foreclosures are ravaging communities from the coast to the eastern border.

The overwhelming tide of foreclosures and financial uncertainty threatens to permanently undermine the foundations of our state. We need our legislators to make decisions that put more Oregonians on a pathway toward prosperity. We need our lawmakers to look long-term and take action to rebuild Oregon now, before they leave Salem at the end of February. The good news is that the Legislature can act to rebuild our foundations and put us back on solid footing. The decisions we make now will shape our state for years to come. We can and must create an Oregon that offers opportunity for all its residents.

The Housing Alliance, a statewide coalition of housing providers, advocates, local jurisdictions and others concerned with the availability of affordable housing, is asking the Legislature to act on the 2012 Housing Opportunity Agenda. The agenda identifies a range of solutions with modest price tags and far-reaching impact.

Two items on the agenda can’t be left undone.

First, the Legislature should reverse cuts to programs that are the first line of defense against hunger and homelessness. Because of the way that state budgets work, programs that provide access to emergency food and emergency housing and that help to prevent the dislocation of more households are being cut at the time when the need for them is the greatest. Just a few million dollars here would help protect households in every corner of the state. As we make choices to help our state move along the path to an economic recovery, we can’t leave Oregonians most affected by the recession behind.

Second, the Legislature has the ability to act to protect homeowners affected by foreclosure. Our communities cannot wait until 2013 for decisive action while foreclosures wreak havoc and despair among families and communities across the state. Two bills moving in the Oregon Senate, SB1552 and SB1564, would provide homeowners with timely and accurate information about their choices and allow them to make informed decisions. And resources that Oregon will receive from the recent settlement with national lenders can be put to work to maximize the impact of the private and federal programs and resources that have been directed toward homeowner relief. The foreclosure crisis will continue to drag down our communities and our economy until action is taken by the Legislature to provide homeowners access to good information and guarantees of fair dealing.

While the path ahead is difficult, we know that there are solutions. We can make the right choices to best protect and ensure the future we all want: a future in which all Oregonians have access to opportunity and pathways out of poverty. February is the time to make these choices.

Israel Bayer is the executive director of Street Roots. Janet Byrd is the executive director of Neighborhood Partnerships and convenes the Housing Alliance. Bill Hall is a Lincoln County commissioner.

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Want to know more?

How can you help? Call your Senator or Representative and ask them to vote yes on the two bills moving in the Senate, SB 1552 and SB 1564. Those who say we’ve done enough on foreclosure are wrong – Oregonians are still suffering and these bills would make a significant different in people’s lives. These bills would provide homeowners with timely and accurate information about their choices and ensure a fair and reliable process prior to foreclosure. Please tell your Senator that our communities cannot wait until 2013 for decisive action, and to please vote yes on SB 1552 and SB 1564. The foreclosure crisis will continue to drag down our families and our economy until action is taken by the Legislature to provide homeowners access to good information and guarantees of fair dealing.

The Oregon Legislature came into session just over one week ago, on February 1. Things are moving at breakneck speed as Legislators hope to be done by the end of February. With such a short session, most action is focused on rebalancing the state budget. We’re advocating for Legislators to also focus on protecting Oregonians most affected by the economic downturn and also by foreclosures.

On the Housing Opportunity Agenda for 2012 is:

• Protecting Basic Services for Oregonians
• Preserve Existing Affordable Housing
• Ensure Effective Recordation of Affordable Housing Covenants
• Protect Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
• Support the extension of the Farmworker Housing Tax Credit
• Protect Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Fix problems with the Senior & Disabled Property Tax Deferral Program

Things will continue to move at lightning speed in Salem. If you’re interested in what’s happening, you can join the Housing Alliance or email Alison with questions. If you’re interested in visiting your legislator to talk about housing needs in your community, please let us know.

Neighborhood Partnerships is excited to announce that we will launch a mini Advocate’s College in Corvallis on Tuesday, March 20 and Monday, April 23. This is a shorter, less intensive version, but the same topics will be covered. Neighborhood Partnerships will offer this unique training opportunity to up to fifteen participants. We have several goals for this work.

• First and foremost, our goal is to support established leaders and communications professionals who are working to create an Oregon which offers its diversity of residents opportunities to thrive, pathways out of poverty and disenfranchisement and adequately supported public systems and structures as shared tools for these goals.
• Second, we want to train and support an emerging cadre of leaders and communicators as they work on issues and in cross-issue coalitions to develop messages and materials that resonate and move an advocacy agenda. We will select participants who have a clear issue focus and advocacy or campaign plan, a commitment to strategic communications, and a recognition that building public support for governmental action and resources is an underlying priority.

Participants will be selected based on their (and their organizations’) commitment to:

• advancing defined policy changes through a deliberate communication strategy
• block off time for this training and for development of communications materials
• grass roots or direct engagement in Oregon communities and in coalition efforts, and
• commitment to development of / use of a strong shared theme which reinforces the need for effective public structures and adequate and reasonable revenues

To apply, please fill out the application. It is due at Neighborhood Partnerships on or before March 1, 2012, and applications will be accepted until all spots are filled. Our application and pre training questionnaire are designed to help us select the cohort most able to put these skills into use and to tailor our sessions to support their progress.

If you have any questions about the application process, please email Janet.

Neighborhood Partnerships is hiring a Fiscal and Program Assistant!

Neighborhood Partnerships, a dynamic, innovative statewide nonprofit seeks motivated person to provide quality bookkeeping, donor relations support and data management to Finance Director and Program Staff. Detail-oriented, accurate, computer savvy, team player with one to two years of experience desired.

Salary based on experience. Full time with excellent benefits and flexible workplace.

Primary Duties

• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Database management and maintenance
• Donor acknowledgement and support
• Grant and contract management and file maintenance
• Provide other fiscal support as requested
• Provide other program and admin support as requested

Skills and Experience Requirements

• 1–2 years bookkeeping experience, nonprofit and QuickBooks experience a plus
• Possess high standard for accuracy
• Able to multi-task while also being highly detail-oriented and balance shifting deadlines and priorities
• Demonstrated resourcefulness in setting priorities and proposing new ways of creating efficiencies
• Able to work independently to follow procedure and meet deadlines
• Possess an innate enthusiasm for growing new skills
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of data
• Comprehensive computer knowledge
• Able to cheerfully contribute to a small team environment

Minorities, women, and qualified individuals with disabilities are urged to apply. To apply: Submit cover letter, resume and three references to:

kherrlinger@neighborhoodpartnerships.org, subject line: Fiscal & Program Assistant

Deadline: February 20, 2012

No calls please.