HPF Appoints Homeownership Advocate Bruce Gottschall to Board of Directors
March 3, 2011, Washington, DC – The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), which administers the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline 1-888-995-HOPE to provide free, financial education and confidential foreclosure prevention counseling to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, find sustainable solutions, and ultimately improve their financial situation, announces that Bruce Gottschall has been named to serve on HPF’s board of directors.
Gottschall has worked in the fields of housing and community development throughout his career, most notably as one of the original founders of Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Chicago, serving as Executive Director of NHS from its inception in 1975 until his retirement in 2009. During his tenure, NHS financed 29,000 units of housing, loaned $500 million in 18,000 loans and leveraged more that $1.1 billion in neighborhood investment while serving 181,000 clients. Under his leadership, NHS of Chicago partnered with the City of Chicago to establish NHS’s Home Ownership Preservation Initiative (HOPI), which became a national partnership model in preventing foreclosures.
"Bruce Gotschall has been working as a tireless advocate on homeownership education and sustainability issues throughout his career,” said Colleen Hernandez, CEO of HPF. “His years of dedication and experience working to strengthen neighborhoods through sustainable homeownership will bring an insightful grass roots perspective to the HPF board. HPF is fortunate to attract experienced professionals such as Bruce to our board; he and our other board members exhibit a strong sense of integrity, compassion and purpose as they guide the work of HPF and provide leadership, advice and counsel,” said Hernandez.
“HPF is an important institution in the process of sustaining home ownership in difficult times,” said Gottschall. “Going forward, it will continue to play an important role in both sustaining and creating home ownership. It is my hope that I can help bring insight and experience to helping create a collaborative role in the system of home ownership, particularly for low-to-moderate income people and in neighborhoods of need,” said Gottschall.
Since his retirement in December 2009, Gottschall has continued his involvement in community development as an active Board Volunteer in NHS of America and National Peoples Action, and as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Community Land Trust.
Mr. Gottschall received a B.A. in Sociology and Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.
About the Homeownership Preservation Foundation
The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) is an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure. HPF guides consumers onto the path of sustainable homeownership and develops innovative solutions to preserve and expand homeownership. Through its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, 888-995-HOPE™, HPF provides comprehensive financial education and confidential foreclosure prevention counseling for FREE, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, in over 170 languages. Since 2007, HPF has served more than four million distressed homeowners, an average of 5,500 persons each business day, who depend upon HPF as a trusted, neutral source of information and assistance. For more information about the Homeownership Preservation Foundation or the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, please visit www.995hope.org
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Contact: Homeownership Preservation Foundation
media@995hope.org 202-480-2775
