By Elena Temple
June 27, 2005

Opening the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Conference of Mayors, mayors from cities across the nation gathered at a Habitat for Humanity construction site in Chicago to call national attention to the nation's need for affordable home ownership opportunities. The volunteer build event, known as The Habitat House the Mayors Built, is held every year in conjunction with the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting.

This year, mayors representing 30 cities across the country worked alongside Habitat home owner, Rose Henderson-Dike, a single-mother of five sons — Nnaji, Rraji, Joshua, Jacob and Ike. The mayors worked with the Henderson-Dike family to erect the frame of their three-bedroom single-family home, located at 5200 S. Hermitage St., in Chicago's Back of the Yards community, while neighbors, friends and well-wishers cheered them on.

Urging city, state and federal governments to adopt sound housing policies and advocating for federal funding for community development programs are legislative priorities for the conference. This year, the organization created a national coalition uniting mayors and community development groups to lobby for the retention of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) at HUD. Habitat for Humanity is a member of the coalition.

"The United States Conference of Mayors is proud and pleased to work with Habitat for Humanity in this annual volunteer event, particularly as we celebrate Home Ownership Month," said Conference President Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic. "With the stark rise of home prices in the United States, it's difficult for working families to find affordable housing and realize the dream of homeownership," Plusquellic said.

"This is one of the reasons the Conference of Mayors launched its campaign to maintain the Community Development Block Grant program. CDBG funding helps people all across America secure affordable places to live. It is especially fitting that the nation's mayors are working together with Habitat for Humanity to raise public awareness of this issue," he added.

Nationwide, home prices continue to accelerate, making home ownership an increasing challenge for low-income families. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home sales in April increased by 15.1 percent from April 2004 through today. NAR's report revealed that the national median existing-home price for all housing types was $206,000, up from $179,000 the previous year. In Chicago, the median price of a home is $179,000, up from $163,000 last year.

Construction for the Habitat house is sponsored by Career Builders, an online recruiting source, and national residential mortgage investor Freddie Mac. Windy City Habitat for Humanity purchased the land with a donation from a resident in the community.

"Habitat's partnership with the Conference of Mayors underscores the importance of public and private sector alliances and emphasizes how important it is to partner with local governments to address the nation's housing crisis," said Tom Jones, Habitat for Humanity International Vice President. "Having these mayors join us shows that we can join together to face the crisis of affordable housing."

Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus (GA) is an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. By the end of 2005, Habitat will have built its 200,000th house and more than one million people will be living in Habitat homes they helped build and are buying through no-profit, zero-interest mortgages. www.habitat.org

CareerBuilder.com puts jobs in front of poised job seekers, wherever they are — at home or at work — in print and on the Internet. CareerBuilder.com is the nation's leading recruitment resource, with presence in more than 130 local newspapers and more than 26 million unique visitors to its newspaper websites each month. www.careerbuilder.com

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 two million renters in America. www.freddiemac.com

Windy City Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with God's people from all walks of life to build simple, decent, affordable houses and to strengthen families and neighborhoods. www.windycityhabitat.org