"It looked like a scene from TV's "Extreme Home Makeover" Sunday in a Syracuse neighborhood. Nearly 100 volunteers clad in matching bright green t-shirts fixed landscaping and painted houses along Park Avenue on the city's near west side using materials and supplies purchased through a grant by Honeywell to the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative (SNI) and Home HeadQuarters, Inc." Click here for more..

Syracuse, NY - Marilyn Higgins, Vice President of Economic Development at National Grid, was recently appointed to Chair the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative (SNI), a public, private, non-profit collaboration created to help encourage new housing and investment opportunities in the city started through the efforts of Congressman James Walsh. Included in her duties, Ms. Higgins will be overseeing the SNI Steering Committee and development efforts for the private fundraising activities of the Initiative. Ms. Higgins will also lead the planning efforts for the 10th Anniversary Fundraiser for Home HeadQuarters and the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative taking place on June 9th, 2006. Ms. Higgins has been involved in the Initiative since its inception and was co-chair under the leadership of Bill Byrne. Ms. Higgins is a recipient of the Achievement Award for Civic Leadership from the Syracuse Post-Standard and serves on many boards and committees including the NY State Economic Development Council and the Everson Museum of Art.

Since its establishment, Congressman Walsh has secured more than $46 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding for the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative. Those funds have leveraged more than $35 million in additional private sector monies and garnered $10 million in private pledges for other SNI-related activities including targeted neighborhood curb-appeal grants, the Syracuse Home Equity Protection Plan, other neighborhood and park improvements, new home construction, community center improvements and neighborhood group capacity building.

Home HeadQuarters is the largest housing and neighborhood revitalization organization in Central New York and administers most of the public, and all of the private funding efforts of the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative. Since 1996, Home HeadQuarters has assisted more than 1,500 Syracuse residents with major home repair totaling $20 million and provided counseling and/or financial assistance to more than 4000 prospective homebuyers helping to generate more than $63 million in home purchase mortgage financing in the Syracuse area.

Syracuse, NY - The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York recently appointed Kerry P. Quaglia, Executive Director of Home HeadQuarters, to its Affordable Housing Advisory Council. Mr. Quaglia is the only member from Syracuse on the 15-person group with participants from a district that includes New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Advisory Council advises the Federal Home Loan Bank on affordable housing and economic development issues. Mr. Quaglia has more than 20 years of experience in housing, lending and community development. He holds a B.A. with honors from Syracuse University and received a JD from the College of Law at S.U.

Home HeadQuarters is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing and stabilizing neighborhoods in Syracuse and Onondaga County. Established in 1996, Home HeadQuarters offers "one-stop shopping" at its HomeOwnership Center for first-time homebuyers and homeowners who are in need of assistance. Home HeadQuarters provides a variety of services to individuals and families including: certified Homebuyer Education Courses, homeownership and credit counseling, down payment and closing cost assistance, the Home Value Protection Program, the Foreclosure Prevention Program, the Home Improvement Loan Program including the FlexFund Loan, Syracuse Weed and Seed Community Partnership, the Landlord Training Program and the NYSERDA Home Energy Loan Program.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is an $83 billion congressionally chartered, wholesale bank. It is one of the largest providers of private sector housing grant dollars in the region and works to advance housing opportunities and local community development by maximizing the capacity of its more than 300 community-based member-lenders.

Homeowners on the City’s North Side can now take advantage of an enhanced Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative Home Improvement Grant and Loan program which provides residents within a targeted area (see eligible street listing) with home repair financing of up to $20,000, with up to $10,000 of which that can be in the form of a grant. The program provides a 50% loan and 50% grant for major home repairs for eligible homeowners. There are no income requirements to participate in the program, but low- to moderate income residents can take advantage of a sliding scale loan payback in addition to the grant. Participants must live in the home, be current on their property taxes and water bills and have homeowners insurance.

The Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative, through the City of Syracuse and Home HeadQuarters, recently worked with neighborhood residents, other community stakeholders and the SNI Phase V North Side Advisory Committee to enhance the North Side program which originally offered residents a home improvement loan with a sliding scale payback, but without the grant component. North Side residents who have already participated in the original program will be eligible for the new grant portion for additional home repairs.

The Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative was created by Congressman James Walsh to help revitalize neighborhoods and spur economic development in Syracuse. Previous phases of the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative have included purchase and repair grants and home repair financing in the Westcott, Cannon-Newell, S. Salina, Tipperary Hill and Lincoln Hill neighborhoods; creation of the Home Value Protection Plan for city homeowners and new construction on the city’s South and Near North Sides.

North Side Home Improvement Grant and Loan Program Applications are available NOW for interested North Side residents on a first come, first served basis at Home HeadQuarters.

Eligible Properties for the SNI Phase V – North Side Home Improvement Grant and Loan Program:

• South Alvord Street – 400 block
• East Division Street - 300- 600 blocks
• John Street - 100 block
• Ash Street - 200 block-700 block
• Peters Street - 100 block
• Mary Street - 100 block
• Park Street- 700-1000 blocks
• North McBride Street – 900, 1000, 1100 blocks
• Josephine Street - 100 block
• Lodi Street - 1400 block- 1900 block
• Catawba Street – 200–300 blocks
• N. Townsend Street - 800-1100 blocks
• Townsend Place – 100 block
• Gebharrt Street - 100-300 blocks
• Isabella Street - 200 block

For more information and/or program applications, residents should contact: Home HeadQuarters, Inc., 124 E. Jefferson St, Syracuse, NY 13202, (315) 474-1939. Applications and information are also available online at: www.homehq.org.