Message from the

Executive Director

 

 

 

                                                     Cathy Mickens 

 

2008 represents 34 years of Neighborhood Preservation and Stabilization for Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, Inc.  We are proud to say that we have grown from a professional staff of three to a powerful team of nine.  When we began operations in 1974, our communities were faced with vacant, boarded-up buildings on every block.  We were successful in addressing this issue by forming partnerships and alliances with government, lending institutions, businesses and community residents and leaders.

 

 Over the past 34 years, we used the strength of our partnerships to identify and address issues affecting the quality of life in our communities. In 1976 we created the Queens Home Maintenance Training in response to the need for homeowners to learn how to maintain their properties.  The success of this program is so phenomenal that it has been replicated in more that 200 cities across the country.  When housing prices grew so high that average families found it difficult to purchase, we partnered with the State and initiated our Closing Cost Assistance Program; a program that offers eligible, low-income families the opportunity to secure grants up to $30,000 to help underwrite the cost of their first homes. 

 

 Queens is noted as one of the top ten districts with the highest rate of foreclosure.  In response to this problem, we created a Foreclosure Prevention Program and hired a full-time Counselor.  Thanks to our elected officials and lending partners, we were able to secure funding to provide  support for this initiative.  NHS of Jamaica, Inc. is the one, if not the only program in Queens District 12 to offer these services.  While foreclosure numbers are extremely large and growing everyday, we will continue to reach out to those who are caught in the web, and offer our services to help eliminate and prevent these problems.  Our mission is to help stabilize neighborhoods in our communities through preservation of homeownership and existing housing stock.

 

Empowering People •Building Communities •Strengthening Southeast Queens Since 1974

 

 

 

 

 

Empowering people and changing communities