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2004 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cyla Alcantara, 412-288-2860, calcantara@fhlb-pgh.com

FHLBANK OF PITTSBURGH AWARDS $65,000 IN GRANTS
FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

PITTSBURGH, PA, June 18, 2004 — The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Pittsburgh approved $65,000 in grants under its Affordable Housing Program (AHP) to help fund one housing initiative in central Pennsylvania, having total development costs of $1.5 million. The initiative will create 14 housing units in Aspers.

A leading provider of financial assistance for affordable housing and economic development, the FHLBank of Pittsburgh approved a cumulative total of $4.8 million in affordable housing grants in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, helping to finance $67.4 million in total development costs for 33 housing initiatives that will create 765 housing units.

"Making housing and homeownership affordable is imperative to fostering sustainable and livable communities," said James D. Roy, FHLBank of Pittsburgh president and chief executive officer. "I'm grateful to our member institutions and community partners for continuing to open doors to safe, affordable housing for the region's lower-income individuals and families."

The AHP provides FHLBank member financial institutions with grants and below-market-rate loans that are then distributed to qualified project developers and sponsors. AHP financing is combined with other funding sources to create homeownership and rental housing for lower-income families and individuals.

"Together with our members and partners, we've been able to maximize AHP dollars in ways that bring wide-ranging and far-reaching benefits to individuals, families, neighborhoods and communities all around our region," said John J. Bendel, director of Community Investment at the FHLBank.

The FHLBank received 80 applications in the 2004 funding round. All applications were submitted through AHP Online, the program's paperless electronic application submission process. Project applications must meet certain criteria to compete for funding, and are scored based on a system developed by the FHLBank, its Board of Directors and its Affordable Housing Advisory Council.

The project approved for funding in central Pennsylvania is:

Project: Jonathan Court Apartments
Member Bank: Waypoint Bank
Project Sponsor: Rural Opportunities, Inc.
Project Description: $65,000 to create a 14-unit facility in Aspers targeted to migrant workers employed seasonally at local farms in Adams County

For details on this project, click here.

Since the AHP began in 1990, the FHLBank of Pittsburgh has awarded $121 million in housing grants for projects in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Of that total, $104.9 million was awarded through the AHP funding rounds and $16.1 million through the Home Buyer Equity Fund (HBEF), the FHLBank's program that assists first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing costs. AHP funding, leveraged with funding from other sources, has resulted in more than $1.7 billion in total development, representing more than 19,000 affordable housing units.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, with assets of more than $57 billion, serves nearly 350 financial institution members in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is one of twelve FHLBanks, all private cooperatively owned banks that provide wholesale housing finance, community lending and correspondent banking services to member banks, savings institutions, credit unions and insurance companies.