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Click here
to find out how you can be the proud owner of a PACC Tshirt!
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PACC Talk Fall 2008
PACC TALK...
...Read about the pursuit of building an equitable, diverse, engaged
and flourishing community in central Brooklyn.
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The Gates Cooperatives...hurry, the deadline for
applications is approaching!*
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Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) is
developing a 34-unit affordable cooperative in Bedford-Stuyvesant on
Gates
Avenue between Tompkins and Throop, as part of a NYC HPD's Cornerstone
program. In marketing the co-op, PACC will set aside
50% of the units to Community Board #3 residents and have a set aside
for
municipal employees and those with disabilities. The Gates Cooperative
will target households with incomes between $47,500/year to
$84,000/year. The
Gates has been constructed using many Green Design features, which will
reduce
energy usage, and result in energy savings for homebuyers. The co-op is
a great
opportunity for neighborhood residents, especially at a time that real
estate
prices are beyond most Brooklynites' reach.
* The
deadline for submission of applications is November 19, 2008.
To view floorplans and download application(s) visit www.thegatescoop.org.
To be on PACC's affordable homeownership mailing list,
please visit the contact page
of our website.
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PACC Expands Foreclosure Prevention Services
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In
September PACC welcomed two new
staff members to our Home Services Department to work with Bonita
Dowling and Pat
Julien and provide additional staff to perform foreclosure prevention
counseling. We are very proud to welcome
Charrisse Smith as our Assistant Counselor who is working with our
counselors
and clients to process applications, documentation, outreach and
follow-up and
oversee our reporting and database.
Prior to joining PACC,
Charrisse established her career in the mortgage industry for fifteen
years as
a loan officer and underwriter while working for various mortgage banks
in the New York area.
Stephan Dookeeram
is our new Foreclosure Counselor who worked in t he
mortgage industry as an
Account Executive for Wilmington Finance (subsidiary of AIG) and then
became
involved in loss mitigation. "I joined PACC
because of their strong roots in the community of Bed-Stuy. I
was just very excited to start working to
help make a difference in foreclosure awareness in Brooklyn.
I am very passionate of helping people and I am a native of
Queens." If you know of anyone facing default or
foreclosure or is in an unaffordable mortgage please have them call our
Home
Services office in Bedford Stuyvesant at (718) 783-3549 x 15.
PACC is
grateful for the support of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods
and the
Housing Partnership Network funded by the National Foreclosure
Mitigation
Counseling Program of NeighborWorks America. As a partner in
the New York Mortgage
Coalition and HPN, our new staff will receive a scholarship for three
days of NWA
foreclosure training in NYC this month.
photo(l-r): Charrisse, Stephan, Pat, Flora, Bonita |
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Community
Organizing: The Candidate Forum on Housing
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| PACC hosted its first
forum on housing issues for local
candidates on October 16th, 2008.
St. Francis College
graciously lent us their space. Adriene
Holder, the Attorney-in-Charge at the Legal Aid Society's civil
practice
facilitated the discussion.
Assemblymembers Hakeem Jeffries, Joseph Lentol and Joan Millman,
Senator
Velmanette Montgomery, and candidates John Chomczak and Pedro Monges
and John
Raskin, a representative from Daniel Squadron's campaign, engaged in a
lively
debate around reforming New York
State's rent laws. PACC leaders pushed the discussion further
with probing questions into how the candidates propose to actually pass
the
changes they support. A heated political
debate followed with both the candidates and audience very
engaged. Participants commented that they learned
something new that evening. PACC plans
to hold similar forums in the future.
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Calling All Radicals: A Book Reading
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On Monday October 6, 2008 PACC kicked off its "Young Friends
of PACC Group" with a very successful book reading and signing of
Calling All
Radicals. The author, Gabriel Thompson, was the director of
community organizing from 2002 - 2005,
and much of the book is based upon his experiences at PACC. "The work
that PACC
does, and that I was fortunate to be a part of, is critical in
developing local
leaders who fight to save their neighborhood," said Thompson to the
more than fifty
people in attendance at the Flatbush Farm, a hip bar in Prospect
Heights,
Brooklyn.
For many this was their first introduction to PACC and they left very
impressed
and eager to get involved. Former staff person and current board member
Seble
Tareke-Williams made an impassioned plea to folks to think of new ways
that they
can contribute to PACC. "I can't tell you how helpful it was to have
people
from the community design fliers for our events," she  said. Lincoln
Restler
from CNED (Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic Development), a new NYC
initiative, was eloquent in his praise for PACC, reminding people how
essential
and unsung much of the work is. "PACC has been a leader in foreclosure
prevention and has saved hundreds of homes in Bed-Stuy over the last
decade,"
Restler mentioned. "They were working on this long before it became a
big news item."
There was a raffle with two winners receiving a copy of Gabriel's book
and new
green PACC tee-shirts, and a third winning a gift certificate to the
Flatbush
Farm. A slideshow with great photos from PACC's organizing history, and
complimentary snacks and drinks created a warm and fun atmosphere. The
event,
which was organized by the development department, was a great way of
publicizing PACC and reaching an untapped segment of our ever-changing
Brooklyn
landscape.
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15 Quincy Welcomes its first tenants.
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Last year this time PACC began marketing 15 Quincy. A newly developed
affordable rental building near Classon Avenue. Here's an excerpt of
an email from Donna, one of the winners of the 15 Quincy Lottery.
I
had been looking for
an apartment for a good while...calling different listings, applying
for NYC
housing, even section 8, yet nothing had come from any of it. One day
my sister
gave me an application for 15 Quincy Street. I filled it out and
forgot
about it. Much to my surprise, I got a response and was called in for
an
interview. I was excited yet skeptical, but my family reassured me.
They said,
'You just might get it this time.' ... and I did!
When
asked about the physical aspect of the building:
Basically
it's a quiet area
and transportation for me is very good. I get to work in a fairly
decent amount
of time, 45 minutes, and I work in Canarsie (the south end of
Brooklyn)! Since
getting my apartment I have given friends, family and co-workers PACC's
phone
numbers and told them to give it a shot!
To be notified of affordable housing opportunities and
lotteries, go to our contact page. |
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To find out more about PACC or to
become a member, email us at pacc@prattarea.org and visit us on the web
at www.prattarea.org
Sincerely,
Deb Howard
Pratt Area Community Council |
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