Four Long Island agencies will get money for foreclosure prevention counseling, thanks to a $747,000 federal grant to the State of New York Mortgage Agency.
SONYMA, which provides loans with low-interest rates to qualified borrowers, will also put in $124,772, leading to a total of $872,490 that will be parceled out to 20 housing counseling groups.
Recipients that counsel Long Islanders are Housing Help, Long Island Housing Services, Nassau County Office of Housing & Homeless Services, and Housing Help ACORN. Grant amounts for each are not known yet.
“Counseling agencies are on the front lines of the battle to prevent foreclosures and keep neighborhoods whole,” said Priscilla Almodovar, SONYMA's president and chief executive officer. “One of the biggest challenges facing the counseling community is developing the capacity to serve the many homeowners who face losing their homes."
SONYMA applied for the federal grant at the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program, which was created by Congress.
NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit that administers the mitigation counseling program and partners with local groups to revitalize communities, also gave money to nine New York groups for homeowner counseling. The Community Development Corporation of Long Island, Inc. got $94,475.00.