Community HousingWorks Receives National Recognition
 In what is sure to change the future of intervention and foreclosure counseling, Freddie Mac has recognized Community HousingWorks as a Spotlight Organization for Best Practices.
Headlined Delivering Service Based on a Specialty Staffing Model, the spotlight explains, “Local nonprofit housing agencies traditionally have used a generalist staffing model, in which each counselor, attempting to wear many hats, is expected to be an expert in multiple program areas.“
That generalist would need to triage a situation, gather up paperwork, counsel the homeowner, negotiate the mortgage with the lender, and handle the data entry. It is, in the words of Loss Mitigation and Counseling Supervisor Ali Tarzi, “inefficient.”
As Freddie Mac observes, “It is a rare individual who can be proficient in all skill areas. In addition, the time and expertise required to complete each step can substantially limit the number of homeowners who can be served by a single counselor.”
Recognizing the limits to the existing system, Community HousingWorks took a different tack beginning in 2008 by hiring industry professionals with specific knowledge in each area of mortgage banking and real estate. By focusing every team member specializing in one area, they were able to provide years of targeted expertise, maximizing the results of every meeting for both staffers and clients.
Specialties on staff quickly included realty, REO, and finance. And though everyone at Community HousingWorks understands multiple segments of the loss mitigation system, their model differs from others because no one person does everything. Counselors make recommendations, then pass the file and move on to the next family.
With nobody else in loss mitigation working this way, the Community HousingWorks model becomes brilliant in its simplicity, overcoming massive amounts of frustration and substantially increasing levels of service. Using this model, up to 65 homeowners a week can receive in-depth services from the FIC.
Their ability to help more people, as well as going beyond giving advice and actually negotiating with the banks, caught the attention of the folks at Freddie Mac. Says Gabe del Rio, Sr. VP, Lending & HomeOwnership, “I like to look upon Community HousingWorks like a doctor’s office. Our clients are patients with financial symptoms. Our counselors are doctors. Triage staff are nurses. Loss mitigation people are specialists. We provide a diagnosis and recommendation, then the patient is moved on to the next level to have the recommendation implemented.”
Like a doctor’s office, the Community HousingWorks model only succeeds when the client is educated and empowered to help himself. Thus, while Community HousingWorks staffers diagnose the patient and prescribe the medication, the homeowner must actually take the medication that has been prescribed. And if the symptoms don’t improve over time, these patients know they can return for additional diagnosis and treatment.
“Our clients understand up-front that nobody can help them but themselves. True, we’ll run interference for them and help clear up obstacles, but it’s fundamental that someone is willing to help himself to clear up his own financial problems.” says Mr. del Rio.
Adds Mr. Tarzi, “We’ve effectively created an assembly line, with coordinators to set appointments and prepare a family for meeting with the counselor, counselors to advise you, financial professionals to negotiate mortgages, and data entry specialists to enter data, grind the numbers, pull reports and make sure files are kept current.
Community HousingWorks’ ingenious system lets everyone win. Counselors aren’t stretched in too many directions, team members focus on what they do best, and clients get through the system much faster.
As noted by Freddie Mac, “In 2009 CHW counseled more than 2,200 households facing possible foreclosure, of which 78% received National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling. To date, the outcomes of these cases are encouraging, as 95% have avoided foreclosure.”
The recognition by Freddie Mac has put Community HousingWorks into a position of leadership among their peers. Not a week goes by without someone in loss mitigation contacting Mr. del Rio’s office for lessons in how to duplicate Community HousingWorks’ success.
It’s easy to understand why.
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From Humble Beginnings to College Graduate, Board Member
 Public health has always played an important role in the life of Maria Bitanga, who graduates this month as SDSU’s Outstanding Graduate in the School of Public Health. There she served as director of public relations for the College of Health and Human Services Council and conducted the first ever Health Care Access Workshop. She is also the newest Community Housing Works board member and volunteers with several other area organizations.
Maria’s humble beginnings as a Junior Youth Leader at Poway’s Haley Ranch Estates taught her that she alone controlled her future and she didn’t have to be beholden to anybody. Having lived in an affordable housing complex, she recognized the value that can only come from the feeling of community. “I set out to help those around me who were less fortunate than I was, and to enrich the lives of people struggling to move up in the world,” she says.
Maria began working with Community HousingWorks without any in depth knowledge of their mission. “All I really wanted was to be a part of something in which I could volunteer and help.” she recalls. Little did she know that she would be rewarded for her efforts with an award from the Community HousingWorks Valor Scholarship Program.
Next up was earning an Associates of Science Degree in Biological Allied Health. Maria drew upon her experiences as a Junior Youth Leader to push herself to make a difference in the community’s social fabric, even as she excelled academically. She became the Vice President of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and the University’s science club.
In her free time during summer break she began volunteering at Community HousingWorks’ headquarters in City Heights. K.J. Koljonen – one of Maria’s supervisors – refers to her as the “To Do List” girl. “We gave her projects. She got them done. No muss, no fuss, no questions, and no problems.”
“Here was a woman who showed up every day asking, ‘How can I help? What do you need to have done?’ We had her scheduling appointments, doing research, designing and pricing signs for our 15 learning centers. Everything she did was great!”
“That summer was my way of giving back to Community HousingWorks,” says Maria. “These were people who made sure I had a roof over my head for the past 10 years. I felt I owed them and the people they help something more than just a thank you card.”
During the years in college, Maria again earned a scholarship from Community Housing Works. Now, as a three-time Valor Scholarship Recipient, she’s been named Valedictorian of her graduating class. “Community Housing Works paved my way towards success and pushed me to work hard, inspire others, and lead the way!” she says.
Maria Bitanga plans to build upon her experiences from both Community HousingWorks and SDSU, promoting unity through healthcare. After graduation she hopes to obtain a master’s degree in public health and work for the government, a hospital or a university, either through research or program planning.
Maria Bitanga – Another Community HousingWorks success story.
500 FaceLift Friends in 2010
 Started in 1995, the FaceLift program makes living space improvements for homeowners who are low-income, disabled or elderly. Nearly 5,000 volunteers have been mobilized for this cause over the past 15 years, giving facelifts to hundreds of homes in City Heights that were previously best described as “tired.”
Over the years we’ve removed more than 1,000 tons – 2 million pounds - of trash and debris from area alleys, streets, and nearby canyons. We’re cleaning our 25th neighborhood on June 5th, and want you to be a part of it.
Even if you can’t join us on-site, though, you can still lend a hand and be one of our 500 new friends.
Here’s how… |
