Group Lauded for Aiding Low-Income Home Buyers

An Inglewood program that rehabilitates homes and provides financing to low- and moderate-income families buying their first home has won a national award that recognizes community investment projects.

Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services, a nonprofit organization funded by the city and Broadway Federal Savings Bank, was selected from more than 12,000 programs nationally for the 1997 Social Compact Outstanding Investment Award. The award honors agencies that provide investment opportunities in low-income communities. The Inglewood group was selected because of projects it initiated in 1996.

The four-year-old Inglewood program has enabled more than 50 families to become first-time home buyers by providing secondary mortgage financing. The organization also has renovated homes and apartments in various Inglewood neighborhoods, such as Hyde Park and Morningside Park, that have been sold to low-income families.

“It’s fantastic and wonderful to win such a prestigious award,” said Mary Williams, community organizer for the program. “We’re a pretty small group and were up against some pretty big agencies.”

Social Compact, a 19-year-old national organization composed of leaders in the financial services industries that work to stabilize declining neighborhoods, awarded Inglewood Housing Services and eight other groups a $10,000 grant to assist with programs.