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HCI's Mission Our Vision:
To be the recognized leader in Housing Education.
Our Mission: To enable low
and moderate income families to achieve their homeownership goals by
providing education.
HCI's History
In March 1982, the Montgomery County Board of Realtors (MCAR)
organized a non-profit, which was named Housing for the Handicapped,
Inc. For many years, it served as a method of providing a
charitable community service outlet for MCAR’s member Realtors and
affiliates. The purposes of the organization were:
a) to engage in
fundraising activities and to seek grants to obtain funds to be used
to promote and assist independent living of disabled persons.
b) to receive and administer funds for
other charitable purposes as designated by the Board of Directors.
On December 28, 1989, the Montgomery Board of Realtors Housing for the
Handicapped, Inc. was renamed MCAR Housing Charities, Inc. and in
October 1991, was registered with the State of Maryland as a
charitable organization.
On October 27, 1994, MCAR Housing Charities amended its name to become
Housing Charities, Inc. (HCI) and began its independent operation from the
Montgomery County Board of Realtors.
HCI is still dedicated
to the same fundamental principals of community service and housing
assistance to which its predecessor organization adhered. HCI has included in its goals the requirement to serve the
housing needs of low and moderate income residents in Montgomery
County.
In August 2003, HCI changed its name to Housing & Community
Initiatives, Inc. (still called HCI), to reflect its expanded
offering of homeownership and community programs, including a new
post-settlement education course.
Since 1994, over 10,400
households have completed the first-time homebuyer course!
In 2004,
HCI commenced its bilingual individualized housing counseling services
comprised of several one-on-one sessions to assist county residents in
preparing to become homebuyers, understand their credit, or prevent
foreclosure/default.
In 2005, HCI has
served over 1,600 households with first-time homebuyer education and
completed over 100 housing counseling sessions!
In 2006,
HCI
launched a program to teach financial literacy through its Financial
Fitness Seminars.
In 2007, HCI began teaching MPDU
Orientation Seminars for the Montgomery County Department of Housing
and Community Affairs. The seminars are a prerequisite to
participate in the county's MPDU (Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit)
program.
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