DETROIT HOMEOWNERSHIP EDUCATION WORKSHOP A SUCCESS, TWO MORE NEIGHBORHOOD WORKSHOPS PLANNED FOR  6-26

Five hundred people from across metro Detroit participated in the Detroit Homeownership Education Workshop hosted by Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and Detroit HOPE on Saturday at Wayne County Community College�s downtown campus.

�Detroit HOPE is excited to have been a part of this successful event with the City of Detroit," said Adrienne Nutter, a spokesperson for Detroit HOPE. "We're pleased to have been able to bring homeownership and financial literacy information to Detroit residents on such a large scale."

�Those that attended found the seminars to be very informative,� said Kizzi Montgomery, Workshop Coordinator for Mayor Kilpatrick�s Office. �We helped a lot of people and Mayor Kilpatrick received so much positive feedback from participants, that he�s decided to host two more workshops before the end of June. This time they will be in the neighborhoods.�

The first of two scheduled Detroit Neighborhood Homeownership Workshops will be held on Tuesday, June 26 at Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers, from 2-7 p.m. The second will take place on Thursday June 28 at the Samaritan Center, 5555 Conner, from 2-7 p.m.

During the workshops information about credit management, predatory lending, foreclosure prevention, reverse mortgages and tips for first time homebuyers will be made available. Participants will also be able to get information about how to purchase vacant and foreclosed homes in the city of Detroit.

�It is a buyers market and we have some tremendous homes in the city of Detroit that are available at unbelievable prices,� Montgomery said. �We want to get people into those homes and help them realize the value of living in Detroit.�

Each workshop is FREE and open to any resident interested in becoming more financially savvy in the NEXT Detroit. There will be representatives from financial institutions, mortgage companies, and other financial professionals on site to answer questions, activities for youth, door prizes and refreshments.

Mayor Kilpatrick�s partnership with Detroit HOPE is part of his ongoing Dollar Wi$e efforts designed to leverage partnerships with non-profit and private sector organizations to improve the financial literacy of Detroiters. Dollar Wi$e is a U.S. Conference of Mayors financial literacy campaign that started in 2004 and is implemented by more than 100 mayors from across the country.

Detroit-HOPE is a partnership of nonprofit housing organizations, mortgage lenders and law firms created in cooperation with the City of Detroit. This locally focused program, similar to those in Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia, has developed several initiatives to address the growing incidence of residential foreclosures in the Detroit area. For more information about Detroit-HOPE, please visit www.detroithope.org .