HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® AND CITY OF HOUSTON TO BE HONORED FOR COLLABORATING ON ‘HOUSTON HOPE ’ PROJECT

Local groups are among five national recipients of the 2009 Ambassador City designation for promoting affordable housing initiatives

 
HOUSTON — (April 16, 2009) — The Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) and City of Houston are among five national recipients of the 2009 Ambassador City designation by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors for their partnership on the Houston HOPE affordable housing project.  The presentation of the award and a $5,000 check to be contributed toward Houston HOPE will take place on Monday, April 20, 2009 at 4 p.m.

WHAT:    HAR has partnered with the City of Houston for many years on efforts to improve and promote the City ’s down payment assistance and affordable housing programs.  Last year, HAR worked with city officials to improve the Houston HOPE Web site and provide a more prominent link to the site on HAR.com.  HAR also worked with the program’s marketing team to utilize the association’s existing public relations and advertising relationships to generate additional exposure for the program.

In light of this partnership, HAR and the City of Houston were named one of five recipients in the U.S. for the Ambassador City honor.  As part of the award, HAR Chair Vicki Fullerton will be joined by Houston Mayor Bill White who will receive the award from NAR President Charles McMillan and Dave Gatton from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. 

 WHERE:   8415 Grandview Street, Houston, TX. 77051 (near 288 and Bellfort: a new construction home in the Sunnyside neighborhood, currently being purchased through the Houston HOPE program)

WHEN:  Monday, April 20, 2009 at 4 p.m.

 WHO:   Bill White, Mayor, City of Houston
Charles McMillan, President, National Association of REALTORS®
Vicki Fullerton, 2009 Chair, Houston Association of REALTORS®
Dave Gatton, Director, Council for the New American City, U.S. Conference of Mayors
Len Ferber, 2009 Chairman, Housing Opportunity Committee
Michele Williams, Houston HOPE Home Buyer

For more information, please contact David Mendel at david.mendel@har.com or 713.629.1900 ext. 258.