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Senior Center Best Practices
Category Senior Center/Nutrition Program/Organization Name Address Phone Number E-Mail Contact Person Event Name Description/Overview Coined as a “Gem in Germantown” by one of its members, Center in the Park (CIP) is a nationally accredited community senior center located in the Germantown section of Northwest Philadelphia. In 2004, in response to the needs expressed by members of Center in the Park, CIP began an informal housing counseling program designed to assist older adults with housing related issues with an emphasis on guidance and case management through the process of applying for subsidized housing in senior independent living communities around Philadelphia. The Housing Counselor assisted with housing applications, and offered guidance with selling homes and relocating to more manageable living situations. As a result, in 2005 CIP received funding from the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) enabling CIP to hire a dedicated full-time housing counselor. Since that time, as the economy has weakened, the housing and credit market has crumbled and foreclosures and evictions are on the rise. Center in the Park’s Housing Counseling Department has responded to the crisis by learning as much as possible about assisting older adults through mortgage and tax delinquencies and has been fully participating in the programs throughout the city, state and country designed to help people avoid foreclosures and keep their homes. These efforts have been successful. The Housing Counseling Department recently was notified that it has received funding to expand the program and hire another counselor to help meet the housing needs older adults in Philadelphia with a focus on foreclosure prevention in the Germantown community. Here is a story of one person whose home was saved by the efforts of Center in the Park’s Housing Counselor. Ms. W is a 71- year old African American woman. She is the caregiver and representative payee for her adult son who has mental health and mental retardation issues. She also cares for her disabled daughter and three grandchildren whom she has raised since the death of another daughter, their mother, years ago. Her husband passed away in May 2008. Soon after his death, Ms. W’s mortgage monthly payment nearly doubled because her property taxes had not been paid for 3 years, unbeknownst to her. Ms. W had assumed that her husband had taken care of the tax payments. Because of the jump in escrow, Ms. W could not afford her mortgage payments. Ms. W came to the Housing Counselor after being referred from the SeniorLAW Center. When she first called, she could only report that the mortgage company had “started sending the yellow envelopes” and she was too scared to even open the letters. The Housing Counselor was able to meet with Ms. W, assess her situation and contact someone at the mortgage company and negotiate to have a loan modification considered. The loan company wanted 80% of a mortgage payment to be paid for 3 months in order for the loan modification application to be submitted. Housing Counselor persisted to get that deposit lowered to 50%. Ms. W made the first payment. In the meantime, Housing Counselor has requested that the second payment be covered by emergency grant funds from CIP. That request was approved and Ms. W had a chance to get her head above water before she had to make her third payment. The Housing Counselor continued to meet with Ms. W and negotiate with her mortgage company to work out a manageable and reasonable loan payment plan. After several months of timely “Trial Period” or good faith payments representing about 30% of her monthly income, the mortgage company offered Ms. W a permanent modification on her loan, significantly reducing her interest rate which had been well over 10%. Ms. W has been able to make her new payment without difficulty and has been able to continue to provide a stable living situation for all of the family members who are depending on her for constancy and care. Time and Manpower Marketing Audience Served Partnerships Utilized Budget/Costs Impact On Center Good Tips/Other
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