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2004 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

FHLBANK OF PITTSBURGH AWARDS $240,000 IN GRANTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN WEST VIRGINIA

PITTSBURGH, PA, June 18, 2004 — The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Pittsburgh approved $240,000 in grants under its Affordable Housing Program (AHP) to help fund four housing initiatives in West Virginia having total development costs of
$2.5 million. The initiatives will create a total of 39 housing units in Charleston, Franklin, Lewisburg and St. Albans.

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 four projects approved for funding in West Virginia are:

Project: Assaley Place Apartments
Member Bank: Huntington Federal Savings Bank
Project Sponsor: Housing Development Corporation
Project Description: $60,000 to renovate three vacant blighted properties into eight rental housing units for homeless individuals diagnosed with chronic and debilitating mental illness

Project: Pendleton County AHP Project
Member Bank: Pendleton County Bank
Project Sponsor: Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity
Project Description: $55,000 to construct five single-family homes across scattered sites in Pendleton County targeting very-low to moderate-income homebuyers

Project: Sara Lane
Member Bank: First National Bank of Ronceverte
Project Sponsors: Southeastern Appalachian Rural Alliance, Inc.
Project Description: $50,000 to develop eleven acres of land in southeastern West Virginia to build ten homes targeting eligible very-low and moderate-income first-time homebuyers

Project: Twin Cities Center
Member Bank: United Bank
Project Sponsors: Roark-Sullivan Lifeway Center, Inc.
Project Description: $75,000 to rehabilitate a 16-unit permanent-housing facility to meet the needs of the chronically homeless in Kanawha and Putnam counties

For details on these projects, 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.