By Eugene T. Lowe
May 26, 2003

Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino told members of the National Association of Realtors May 13 that "we are proud that you are one of our strong partners." The Mayor, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, said that realtors are important community leaders and that their voices are "always heard in Washington." Mayor Menino spoke at a breakfast honoring HOPE Award winners. The awards (Home Ownership Participation for Everyone) went to four organizations and two individuals for their work in promoting minority homeownership.

The mayor said: "It is ... a real honor to be here with the winners of the HOPE awards. We need to create opportunities for people of all backgrounds to be a part of the American Dream of homeownership and we still have a long road ahead of us. A new nation housing policy is needed to eliminate the disparity between minority homeownership and the population at large." The policy is not needed not only to increase homeownership but also to help those "Americans struggling to find the most basic form of housing — a roof over their heads," Menino added.

Mayor Menino said that a new national housing policy must address" the value of expanding homeownership, create new rental housing and reverse the continuing growth of homelessness..." Such a policy, Mayor Menino said, "would push our lagging economy forward." The mayor said: "Housing is 20 percent of our economy and it needs to be higher on our national agenda."

Once again, as he has so often during the year in the many speeches given across the nation, Menino called on Congress to pass a National Housing Trust Fund. This legislation, he said, is "based on the work of local efforts in over 200 cities, including Boston." The mayor also called for a homeownership tax credit that has been endorsed by President Bush. The mayor said: "It's a good idea and the Administration ought to push harder for it."

The HOPE Awards is an industry awards program created by a partnership of real estate associations: the California Association of Real Estate Brokers, the Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association, the Chinese Real Estate Association of America, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and the National Association of Realtors.

The award winners were: Pratt Area Community Council of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Mission of Peace Housing Counseling Agency of Flint, Michigan; Suffolk Homes by Asian Americans for Equality of New York, N.Y.; National Fair Housing Alliance of Washington, D.C.; Reverend James Dickerson of Manna Inc. of Washington, D.C.; and, Emily Moerdomo Fu of RE/MAX Greater Atlanta International.