Description
Our Vision: To empower families and individuals to build wealth through homeownership.
To further expand on our mission and vision Housing & Education Alliance (HEA) promotes opportunities for economic empowerment for individuals and the community. HEA is committed to working together by each doing our part for the good of the organization and the community. We embrace innovation and entrepreneurship in finding solutions for our clients' issues. We collaborate with residents, businesses, nonprofits and government partners in the development and revitalization of neighborhoods and communities. Housing & Education Alliance actively participates and partners with other non-profit agencies and businesses to bring our services to the local community and workplace. Our outreach efforts include appearing on local radio shows, public service announcements, media releases and workshops. HEA has participated in workshops organized by Congresswomen Cathy Castor, State of Florida CFO Alex Sink, Senator Mel Martinez, Congressman Bilirakis and various local community centers. These workshops were presented throughout Florida's West Coast including Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee and Hernando counties. We have a strong commitment to serving low and moderate income minority individuals and families
HEA is a 501 (c) 3 HUD certified counseling agency. As an affiliate of The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and a member of their National Homeownership Network (NHN), HEA is able to bring additional resources to help our community.
Description: HEA celebrates and embraces the gift and richness of diversity. In 2008, the Housing and Education Alliance provided housing/homeownership retention services to 1,222 families and we anticipate, at a minimum, the same need for 2009. Of these, 13% were over 100% household Area Median Income of $50,485 (AMI), 16% were under 100% AMI, 50% were under 80% AMI, and 21% were under 50% AMI. Of these numbers, 46% were Hispanic, 34% African American, with other races represented as 20%. HEA will again provide their Homeownership Retention Club Program in both English and Spanish on a monthly basis, for up to 150 households which equates to approximately 450 people from Hillsborough and surrounding counties. Of this number, 69.5% are projected to be in the low-to-moderate household income bracket of $43,520, with the majority being of Hispanic and African-American ethnicity.
Since inception in 2002, HEA has delivered almost 300,000 hours of education and one-on-one counseling to over 18,000 LMI families and/or individuals for financial literacy, the home buying process and foreclosure prevention. Over 1,800 purchased their first home with or without government down payment assistance. In 2006-2007 over 4,000 clients were served through our programs.
In July 2004, our outstanding services were recognized when two staff members received awards at the Tampa Housing Authority's Housing Heroes Award ceremony. HEA also received Catholic Charities 2005 Community Service Award and 2005 Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Non-Profit of the Year Award. In 2007 HEA received NeighborWorks America's "Innovations in Homeownership Strategies Award" for its "My Home America" Housing Expo 2006. In 2007 HEA was featured on several public affairs television programs in both Spanish and English as well as in several Spanish radio shows and Spanish newspaper articles.
