CONTACT:
Rebecca Salner, Media Relations Officer
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
650.450.5525 or rsalner@siliconvalleycf.org

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Awards $500,000 in Grants to Address Foreclosure Crisis

MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Seven organizations will receive $500,000 from Silicon Valley Community Foundation to provide legal services, information and loan counseling to homeowners and renters facing foreclosure or eviction in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

The grants are expected to double the number of trained housing counselors and legal advisors at the seven organizations and increase the availability of bi-lingual personnel to help some of the residents hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.

"Too many families in our region have already lost their homes and this crisis is far from over," said Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. "People need expert legal help, housing counseling and assistance working out arrangements with lenders. These grants will help organizations assist more homeowners and renters to avoid the pain of losing their homes."

The Bay Area has experienced record numbers of foreclosure and default notices, which in turn has increased demand on housing counselors and legal advisors.

Those who work in the field say the impact of foreclosures extends to entire neighborhoods.

"Foreclosures have a broad and negative effect on communities, not just on the individuals and families losing the home, and we are concerned that the longer the decline, the harder and longer the economic recovery will be," said Maeve Elise Brown, executive director of Housing and Economics Rights Advocates in her proposal to the community foundation.

HERA will receive $75,000 to help it expand to San Mateo County, where Daly City, San Bruno and South San Francisco have been particularly hard hit by foreclosures. The Oakland-based legal services and advocacy group will provide in-depth counseling and loan analysis as well as quarterly education programs about the mechanics of the foreclosure process. HERA also plans to begin tracking and documenting abuses by geographic area with a goal of helping to shape new state policies.

Bay Area Legal Aid, through its Santa Clara County office, intends to use part of its $50,000 grant to train local government and faith-based groups in recognizing eviction cases involving violations of federal and state law. The grant will also help the agency provide additional legal advice, counseling and referrals.

Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto, which has seen demand for its foreclosure services nearly triple since 2007, received $75,000 to provide direct legal help to more homeowners. The agency had to stop accepting cases because its staff could not take on more legal work. This grant will allow the agency to once again accept new cases.

Community Legal Services also plans to launch a new collaboration in which attorneys will assist loan counselors in analyzing loan documents and negotiating with lenders.

Overall, three housing counseling agencies and four legal services groups received grants ranging from $50,000 to $75,000, which were approved by the community foundation’s board of directors. See the full list of grantees.

To support the grant review process, the community foundation invited experts in the foreclosure prevention field to participate in an advisory committee. The committee shared knowledge of regional, state and national trends, provided advice and assistance to the grantmaking department, and helped review grant proposals.

Similar advisory committees will work with the community foundation on other grantmaking strategies announced last year: immigrant integration, education and regional planning. The community foundation in 2009 intends to maintain grantmaking from its endowment and discretionary funds at about $8 million.

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region's most challenging problems. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the community foundation has more than $1.9 billion in assets under management and 1,500 philanthropic funds. The community foundation provides grants through donor advised and corporate funds in addition to its own Community Endowment Fund. In addition, the community foundation serves as a regional center for philanthropy, providing donors simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Silicon Valley Community Foundation launched in January 2007 following the landmark merger of Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Peninsula Community Foundation and is now one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org.