Neighborhood Housing Services of the Lehigh Valley

Neighborhood Housing Services of the Lehigh Valley (NHS) has been providing help to homeowners in Lehigh and Northampton Counties since 1981, and its offices are located right in the Allentown Historic District! NHS is one of more than 240 Congressional Chartered members of NeighborWorks America, a national organization committed to community development. Because every community is unique, each NeighborWorks America member provides services unique to its region, so NHS's programs are custom-tailored to the needs of the Lehigh Valley. This also means that NHS's programs have changed as the community has changed. Carol Ann Jurchenko, Executive Director of NHS, reports that, when NHS began twenty-seven years ago, rehabilitation of houses in the Historic District was NHS's top priority. In fact, NHS used to partner with OAPA in its facade program. Since 1992, however, NHS has focused mainly on assisting first-time home buyers through financial assistance and through financial fitness classes.


Financial assistance for first-time home buyers can come in the form of either loans or grants, depending on the income of the buyer and the location of house. Susan Gottwald, Program/Resource Development Manager of NHS, says that, in order to prepare for home ownership, NHS might recommend that a potential buyer take one of NHS's financial fitness classes, which cover such important issues as mortgage readiness, spending plans, going over credit reports, budgeting, and finding a lender/avoiding predatory lenders. According to Jurchenko, "We see a lot of people in this region purchasing homes before they are ready." Gottwald adds, "It's not just this region. It's a national issue."


Jurchenko notes that one fascinating feature of the Lehigh Valley is that home-ownership organizations try to avoid duplicating each other's services. Cooperation, not competition, is the name of the game when it comes to supporting homeowners in the Lehigh Valley. Although organizations like NHS and OAPA exist to help homeowners in the Historic District and surrounding areas, Jurchenko and Gottwald agree that more help is needed. Gottwald would like to see "more funding for [housing] rehab. With the current economy, many people have no money for major repair." Jurchenko adds that such assistance would ideally be in the form of grants, not loans. NHS funds rehabilitation projects for residents of Northampton County in the form of forgivable grants. For Allentown and other parts of Lehigh County, such funding is currently available only in the form of loans (maximum amount $15,000 with a 5% interest rate).


Individuals seriously considering home ownership in Lehigh or Northampton County will find the services offered by NHS to be of great assistance. Whether one needs funding, counseling, and/or financial fitness classes, NHS has just about everything a potential homeowner could want.


Neighborhood Housing Services of the Lehigh Valley: http://www.nhslv.org/

Carol Ann Jurchenko: carol@nhslv.org

Phone: (610) 437-3571