By Joyce Nanette Johnson

St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (SPNHS) recently held their “2009 Partners Luncheon”. The occasion was to give recognition and show appreciation to their “partners” who, through their dedication and service, have provided valuable assistance to SPNHS with their housing programs, and to launch “National Homeownership Month”.

According to C. Randolph Wedding, Vice Chair of the board at SPNHS and a former mayor of St. Petersburg, “partners’ contribute to the success of St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc by providing a myriad of services from man-power support, knowledge, and in some cases even financial assistance. He noted that the city of St. Petersburg’s Housing Department and SPNHS have partnered successfully to promote homeownership and rehabilitation programs. “The premier things at the moment are foreclosure intervention and neighborhood preservation programs,” Mr. Wedding stressed.

St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., located at 1600 Dr. Martin Luther King Street South, provides homeownership education and counseling, down payment, and assistance loans. However, with the severe economic climate the majority of the time is spent in foreclosure prevention and intervention counseling. For the current fiscal year SPNHS has helped 100 families to save their homes from foreclosure, while providing financial fitness and homebuyer education to approximately 400 families. They are now intervening and working closing with another 250 families to hopefully prevent them from having their homes foreclosed. Deborah F. Scanlan, President and CEO of SPNHS, also noted that through the help that the agency has received, from some of their partners, within the last year they have successfully helped 15 families to become new homeowners.

The “2009 Partners Luncheon” also offered a political forum for several of the mayoral candidates. In attendance were Jamie Bennett, Richard Eldridge, Bill Foster, Kathleen Ford, Deveron Gibbons, and Larry Williams. All of the candidates voiced complimentary remarks for the work that St. Petersburg Housing Services, Inc. does for the community. Also attending the luncheon were Tom DeYambert, Housing and Financial Manager for the city of St. Petersburg, Deputy Mayor David Metz, City Council members Wengay Newton, Leslie Curran, and Karl Nurse, Cherin Stover from the Wealth Building Coalition, realtor Lou Brown, State Representative Darryl Rouson, and wife Angela, who is a candidate for city council, and many other distinguished guests.

Congresswoman Kathy Castor sent representatives and Congressman Young sent a letter acknowledging the outstanding work that SPNHS has done to help more people become homeowners.

Some of the “partners”, of St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services Inc., include Bank of America, BB&T Bank, City of St. Petersburg, Colonial Bank, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, General Home Development, Northern Trust Bank, Pinellas County, Regions Bank, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, Spectrum Mortgage, Sun Title Insurance, SunTrust Bank, Third Federal Savings, and Wachovia Bank.

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