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Government Relations | Events « Events Archives »
Events Archives
Gerlach Conducts Tour, Town Hall Meeting; Affordable
Housing, Community Development Are Focus of Talks
READING, PA, April 29, 2005 — U.S. Rep. James
Gerlach (PA-6) and officials of the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Pittsburgh held a Town Hall Meeting Friday in
City Council Chambers on Washington Street in Reading.
Topics included a status report on affordable housing
and economic and community development, private and
public aid available to homebuyers and businesses, and
a question-and-answer session with the public.
Before the town hall meeting, Congressman Gerlach led
a tour highlighting the successful renovation of affordable
housing being sold to first-time, low- to moderate-income
homebuyers as part of Our City Reading. Our City Reading
is a community development initiative that is rehabilitating
approximately 200 blighted properties in the city, injecting
a renewed sense of pride into inner-city neighborhoods
through improved housing stock and the creation of block
organizations. In addition, Our City Reading is helping
to transform abandoned industrial sites known as "brownfields"
into new business and industrial parks, creating more
area jobs.
At the town hall meeting, Congressman Gerlach, Dave
Buches, vice president and a community investment consultant
at the FHLBank, and Peter Knight, the Bank's director
of Government Relations, discussed a variety of low-cost
funding programs available to homebuyers and businesses
to spur further revitalization. They also received comments
from affordable housing advocates and other members
of the nonprofit sector, as well as area bankers, homebuilders,
REALTORS© and municipal leaders.
With 15 member institutions headquartered in Congressman
Gerlach's district, the FHLBank of Pittsburgh has contributed:
- $5.1 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP)
grants for nearly 1,000 housing units
- $5 million in Banking On Business (BOB) program
funds for 57 small businesses
- $11.9 million in Community Lending Program (CLP)
funding for six community and economic development
projects
- $496,500 through its Home Buyer Equity Fund (HBEF)
in down payment and closing cost assistance for 173
first-time homebuyers
As a partner in Our City Reading, the Bank has contributed
$500,000 to help fund the renovation of 125 housing
units.
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