Sen. Burns, NHS of Great Falls, Little Shell Chippewa Tribe, Wells Fargo, and Freddie Mac Launch Campaign to Boost Homeownership Among Native Americans in Montana

GREAT FALLS, Mont., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Great Falls, Little Shell Chippewa Tribe, Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac today announced the creation of the Urban Native American Homeownership Initiative, a new financial literacy campaign designed to expand homeownership opportunity by helping Native American families in Great Falls, Montana. The goals of the Initiative are to educate the Native American populations in Great Falls on the importance of financial fitness while increasing awareness of and accessibility to homebuyer education and services. Ultimately, the Initiative seeks to increase the homeownership rate among Native Americans statewide.

Native American families in Montana have only a 33 percent homeownership rate, compared to a 68 percent homeownership rate for all households, according to the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe. In Great Falls, the homeownership rate for Native Americans is even lower at only 28 percent.

"The New Urban Indian Homeownership Initiative has been created to increase the homeownership rate for Native Americans families throughout the state of Montana. CreditSmart is the kind of public-private partnership that will help these families realize the dream of homeownership," said Senator Burns. "I applaud Freddie Mac, the Neighborhood Housing Services of Great Falls, Little Shell Chippewa Tribe and Wells Fargo for working together to ensure that families are better positioned to become successful homeowners."

As part of the initiative, NHS of Great Falls will bring homeownership information directly to Native American families in Great Falls by offering Freddie Mac's CreditSmart(R) financial literacy workshops. The CreditSmart curriculum is offered through free workshops, and is designed to help increase consumers' financial literacy by providing life-long money management skills. CreditSmart provides important information about credit and credit management, insight into how lenders assess credit histories, and how credit plays a profound role in achieving one's financial goals, like renting an apartment, buying a car or home, or getting a job.

CreditSmart is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand and preserve homeownership opportunities in Montana and across the nation.

"Freddie Mac puts its mission to expand homeownership first," said Craig Nickerson, Freddie Mac vice president for Community Development Programs and Services. "Teaming up with Senator Burns and the NHS to make CreditSmart classes available in Great Falls, and eventually throughout all of Montana, will help more Native American families build strong credit on a bedrock of sound information about personal financial management, banking, and homeownership. CreditSmart has helped more than 57,000 individuals across the nation down the path to homeownership. We are delighted to join with Senator Burns to make this effective program work in Montana."

A Freddie Mac study found that pre-homeownership counseling is extremely effective in helping borrowers make their mortgage payments on time, reducing mortgage delinquencies by as much as 34 percent.

Once the potential homeowner has completed CreditSmart counseling, home mortgage consultants at Wells Fargo are able to help the prospective buyer find the correct home loan for their financial situation.

"Wells Fargo is committed to helping Native Americans achieve the dream of homeownership," said Michael Elliott, branch sales manager with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Great Falls. "We're proud to be one of the nation's top mortgage lenders to Native Americans, and honored to have a role in this important financial education program that will enable even more Native Americans to buy a home."

"This is a historic occasion for the Little Shell Chippewa and we look forward to working with our teammates, Neighborhood Housing Services and Freddie Mac, in bringing the Urban Indian Home Ownership Initiative to Great Falls. This will lead to home ownership opportunities for members of the Little Shell Chippewa. We greatly appreciate Senator Burns' support of homebuyer education services," said James Parker Shield, vice chairman of Little Shell Chippewa Tribe.

Karen Nebel, a homebuyer educator and manager at NHS, said, "This is an exciting new initiative with the Little Shell Tribe and Freddie Mac that will reach an underserved portion of our population, the Native Americans. We are looking forward to working with them and helping them find their way to homeownership."

Lee Houle, a member of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe who has been a Great Falls homeowner since 1992 said, "I have deep roots on the lower southside of town, where I used to play with the other neighborhood kids when I was little. I really appreciate the help NHS offered me in buying my home, and I am excited that we may be able to do the same thing for other Native Americans." Houle is an NHS board member and will be instrumental in rolling out this program.

Since 2000, Freddie Mac has invested more than $5.7 billion in mortgages across Montana, making homeownership possible for more than 49,000 families.

Native American Montana residents who want to take advantage of the new Freddie Mac initiative should contact NHS at 406-761-5861 or email: nhs@nhsgf.org. The NHS offices are located at 509 1st Avenue South, Great Falls, Montana 59401.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and nearly four million renters in America. (For more information about Freddie Mac, visit http://www.freddiemac.com/.)

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