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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Neil Cotiaux, FHLBank Pittsburgh: 412-288-2851; cell: 412-335-9488;

FHLBank Pittsburgh Awards $8.625 Million in Grants; 31 Projects With More Than 1,100 Units of Affordable Housing Funded

PITTSBURGH, PA, June 26, 2007 - The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank Pittsburgh) has approved more than $8.6 million in grants under its Affordable Housing Program (AHP). The grants will help finance 31 housing projects across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, creating 1,106 units of housing with total development costs of more than $141 million.

“As we celebrate our 75th year of existence, FHLBank Pittsburgh is pleased to make a record amount of AHP funding available,” said John R. Price, the Bank’s president and chief executive officer. “The grants we announce today serve a wide variety of stakeholders including very-low-, low- and moderate-income individuals and families that include the homeless, single parents and their children, frail elderly and the physically and mentally disabled.”

FHLBank Pittsburgh allocated $17.99 million for AHP in 2007, to be awarded in two funding rounds. In the just-completed round, the Bank awarded $130,000 for one project in New Jersey, $7.38 million for 25 projects in Pennsylvania, $479,000 for two projects in West Virginia, $322,500 for one in Wisconsin and $307,500 for two in the District of Columbia. As in prior years, the total AHP allocation in 2007 will equal ten percent of the Bank’s net income during the previous year.

FHLBank Pittsburgh, a wholesale bank using private capital, not taxpayer funds, distributes AHP dollars through its member financial institutions to community sponsors and project developers. With today’s announcement, the Bank has awarded approximately $134 million to build or rehabilitate more than 23,000 affordable housing units since the start of the AHP in 1990 - empowering families and improving neighborhoods.

This year, the Bank judged grant applications on a revised set of scoring criteria that placed a premium on the category of Community Stability. The Bank awarded up to 25 out of 100 points based on how well a project reflects broader stakeholder involvement, communitywide planning and adds value to the overall community. The greatest number of points was awarded to projects that demonstrated strong local leadership and collaboration; that are located in an area with a quality community plan; and whose features improve resident quality of life, enhance the larger community, act as a catalyst for accomplishing a community strategy and advance positive outcomes across the entire community.

For a complete list of grants awarded in the just-completed AHP funding round, please click here.

With assets of approximately $73 billion, FHLBank Pittsburgh, a government-sponsored enterprise created by Congress in 1932, serves 335 members across its three-state district of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is one of twelve FHLBanks, all cooperatively owned banks established to provide a steady stream of low-cost housing finance. More recently, the Bank’s mission has expanded to include financing for business startup and expansion as well as a variety of community and economic development needs.