CHANGE currently has an Action Team dedicated to foreclosure prevention and mitigation.

Chair:

Paula McCoy- pmccoy1@triad.rr.com

Defending Our Homes and Communities from NC UnitedPower on Vimeo.

The above video was produced in conjunction with our sister organizations from around North Carolina working to prevent home foreclosure and address the foreclosure crisis.

History of work in Economic Development:

• In 2003 CHANGE leaders worked with First Line to develop a booklet to assist unemployed people in Forsyth County. The booklet, which has been revised in recent years, has been distributed to thousands of community members since its creation.

• In 2004, CHANGE congregations worked with the City of Winston-Salem, the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity, and the Urban League to organize $32,000 to provide 125 summer jobs for teens. This effort was the catalyst for the re-establishment of the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides opportunities for more than 150 youth each year.

• In 2009, amidst a nearly 11% unemployment level (25% for minorities) in Forsyth County, CHANGE partnered with the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce to launch WinstonWorks.org; a website that streamlines all job opportunities in the area and encourages small businesses to create jobs in new and innovative ways.

• In 2010, The Economic Development team held a summit at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with a number of local and regional banks, including the NC Banking Commissioner, to negotiate on issues relating to home foreclosure.  We received commitments from the bankers to (1) examine their records of foreclosed homes, (2) get their foreclosed homes returned to the market promptly, and (3) use resources like City/County Neighborhood Stabilization Plan funds.  After the meeting the number of foreclosed homes being sold to first-time homebuyers through the Plan soared. The team also met with more than a dozen local government agencies and large non-profits to review construction contracting with minority-owned businesses. Following this research, a set of “best practices” was developed by the team and shared with over a hundred representatives of these and other agencies and businesses at a symposium on minority contracting co-sponsored by CHANGE, Goler Community Development Corporation and Piedmont Triad Research Park.