Press Release

CONTACT: Barfield Public Relations, Inc.
718-919-5171 or 917-620-1311
Email: pb736@aol.com
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KNOW THE FACTS BEDSTUY – AVOID FORECLOSURE
BRIDGE STREET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION IN CONCERT WITH PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS LAUNCH A FORCLOSURE
EDUCATIONAL & AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – December 2008 - With more than 1 million homes in foreclosure nationwide Brooklyn and Queens accounted for 37 percent of New York City’s foreclosures and Bedford Stuyvesant has one of the highest rates in emerging neighborhoods, according to The Real Deal New York Real Estate News.

Bridge Street Development Corporation in concert with partnering organizations: Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, The Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc., Community Board #3, Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation, and Pratt Area Community Council have forged a media campaign to assist in the effort to help homeowners in foreclosures within the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. By providing education and advocacy to homeowners, the Know the Facts collective will be able to decrease the number of homes currently in foreclosure as well as the number of homes on the verge of going into foreclosure.

According to Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP), there is a correlation between this crisis and the disproportionately high interest rates offered to low to moderate income communities in Brooklyn. Understanding how to prevent foreclosure is the most viable resource of empowerment for saving families and homes. Know the Facts BedStuy provides the tool for Bedford-Stuyvesant residents to obtain no-cost assistance in preventing and coping with foreclosure. In the past, Predatory lenders have exploited many homeowners through abusive loan practices, for example by offering excessively high mortgages which result in foreclosure.

Bridge Street Development Corporation and partnering groups have come together to design a campaign that will educate the Bedford Stuyvesant Community about foreclosures. The goal of this campaign is to provide a resource that the residents of the community can rely upon for up-to-date information to help homeowners prevent their homes from going into foreclosure. For homeowners that are currently in foreclosure, counselors from the partnering organizations, such as Bridge Street Development Corporation, Pratt Area Community Council, and Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford-Stuyvesant will work with the mortgage companies and the homeowners to find the best possible outcome. These groups were chosen by Councilman Al Vann who states, “I am greatly encouraged by the collaboration of our premier community based organizations. Their collective ability to engage and inform the residents of our community will certainly reduce the number of neighbors who may end up in foreclosure.”

Bridge Street Development Corporation (BSDC) President and Chief Executive Officer, Rhonda A. Lewis, states “The goal of The Know the Facts Bed-Stuy campaign is to educate homeowners who are in foreclosure, on the verge of foreclosure, and potential homeowners.” “This campaign is essential to the community, where 52 of every 1,000 homes have begun foreclosure proceedings in Bedford-Stuyvesant while only 14 of every 1,000 homes in New York City have begun foreclosure proceedings. Creating a collective consisting of local non-profit organizations will strengthen our efforts to reach the residents. We want people to know that we have solutions and they have options.”

The KnowTheFactsBedStuy.org campaign is under the direction of Bridge Street Development Corporation (BSDC), and is supported by Councilman Albert Vann and Councilman Erick Martin Dilan. The collective groups will invite the community organizations, block associations and civic groups to display the promotional pieces in their neighborhoods in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

For further information, please contact Barfield Public Relations, Inc. at 718-919-5171.

BEDFORD-STUYVESTANT COLLECTIVE ON FORECLOSURE

Bridge Street Development Corporation (BSDC)
The Bridge Street Development Corporation is a faith-based community development corporation which was founded twelve years ago by the senior pastor and other officials of the Bridge Street AWME Church. Our mission is to help residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant acquire affordable housing, appreciating assets including real estate, businesses, and education.

Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
The Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation is one of the premier community development agencies in the nation. It offers a variety of services to improve the quality of life for the people of Bedford-Stuyvesant by utilizing every available avenue to foster growth and development through economic, cultural, educational, and social venues. For the past 39 years, Restoration has been the catalyst for many of the revitalization efforts that fuel the ongoing growth of Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Community Board No.3, Brooklyn
There are 59 Community Boards in the City of New York. Brooklyn has 18 and the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhoods are in Community Board No. 3. The Bedford-Stuyvesant boundaries are Flushing Avenue to the north, Broadway to the northeast, Saratoga Avenue to the east, Classon Avenue to the west, and Atlantic Avenue to the South.

Community Board No. 3 (CB #3) is made up of a group of volunteers (no more than 50 persons) who live, work or have other interests in the area, plus the City Council Members serving any part of the area. Like a town hall, public meetings of CB #3 is a place where interested citizens discuss community issues, monitor government performance, and advise city agencies on neighborhood matters.
Neighborhood Housing Services

Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation (NEBHDCo) is committed to the preservation, development and management of affordable rental housing and homeownership opportunities, community and economic development initiatives and human services to effect social change in the central Brooklyn and Bushwick communities.

Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) embraces a vision in which people strive together to build an equitable, diverse, engaged, and flourishing community in central Brooklyn. In our work as a community development corporation, PACC pursues to preserve and develop safe and affordable housing, support a vibrant local commerce through which small businesses serve the market needs of community residents, sustain and develop an economic, racial, and cultural diversity that can enrich the lives, of all, promote knowledge, initiative, and concerted action that can advance individual and common interest, and to foster an ethic that all members of the community bear personal responsibility to contribute to the greater good .

The Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc.
The Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc. is a not-for-profit, volunteer service organization that is dedicated to the continued preservation and revitalization of the community. Now in its 29th year, The Brownstoners have established a number of significant initiatives, including the Tax Lien Outreach object, the Reading Awareness Project, the Annual House Tour, and the McDonald/Glee Scholarship Fund.

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