In The News

Our nation has had a wild ride leading up to yesterday’s announcement of President Obama’s re-election. A special thanks to our Resident Services staff throughout the country for making sure that Mercy Housing residents were registered to vote and informed about their civic rights and responsibilities. Congress and the President have some huge issues to

October 2012 Affordable Housing Finance Mercy Housing CEO Sister Lillian Murphy, RSM, was recently featured in Affordable Housing Finance Magazine’s 2012 election guide. This election could have major impacts on the affordable housing industry. When asked about the top housing priority for the incoming 113th Congress, Sister Lillian responded: “Preserve the LIHTC, New Markets Tax

Our Public Policy and Advocacy Team has been hard at work trying to continue support for key Community Development Financial Institution programs. Julie Gould, Mercy Loan Fund President and Senior Vice President of Public Policy Advocacy, recently signed on to the following letters: “Restart the Clock” on the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Delays in implementation

Mercy Loan Fund President Julie Gould signed on to the following letter supporting key CDFI programs: Delays in implementation have cost the CDFI industry two, and possibly three, years of the id=”mce_marker” billion per year available through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program created in 2010. Join Opportunity Finance Network in urging Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner

Mercy Housing is only one of many groups trying to influence Congressional opinions, so it’s not often that we can point to someone increasing their support for housing and community development programs and say “that was definitely us.” As always, this example comes to you courtesy of the hard work in the community that you

This letter summarizes our recent response to a HUD proposal to engage CDFIs on preserving small, unsubsidized rental projects. “Naturally affordable” multifamily properties of less than 50 units account for a much greater proportion of the affordable housing stock than government-assisted housing. For a mechanism, HUD proposed that GNMA-servicer-certified CDFIs would provide permanent debt for

Important conversations are taking place about the future of the affordable housing sector even in this election year, and Mercy Housing is joining in! Sr. Lillian recently testified in front of the Bipartisan Policy Council’s Housing Commission at a regional forum in St. Louis. She spoke on the following key points (Read her full testimony):

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan today visited Chicago and toured the historic Pullman Wheelworks, a newly purchased 210-unit affordable housing building on Chicago’s south side. Mercy Housing Lakefront and National Housing Trust/Enterprise Preservation Corporation (NHT/E) hosted the tour to highlight the latest preservation strategies they are employing together to address

Just before the New Year, the California Supreme Court upheld legislation which eliminates all of the redevelopment agencies in the state on February 1, 2012. Until the ruling, redevelopment agencies have been required to spend 20% of their revenue on the creation and preservation of affordable homes for low and moderate income households. These agencies provided nearly $1 billion per year for affordable housing-money that has been critical to Mercy’s work in nearly every community that we serve.

Each November the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness co-sponsor National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. The good news is that during this week – Nov. 12-18 in 2011 – groups across the country organize events to improve what has become a major crisis in our country.