Greater Sacramento Urban League

GSUL is a HUD-certified sub-affiliate housing agency providing lender-advised financial counseling services, first-time home buyer counseling, housing and consumer advocacy and gentrification prevention solutions under our 3-pillar strategy to EDUCATE, EMPOWER and EMPLOY.
We are focused on strengthening our housing marketplace and expanding the opportunity of home ownership to all who legitimately qualify.

Homeowners lost over $7 trillion in single-family home value since the peak of the housing crisis.
That figure included both Black and Hispanic homeowners, whose loss of wealth was the largest, disproportionately.

We asked ourselves, what if the government and others with access to capital were willing to invest even one third of that figure for counseling money to prevent such a loss in the future?

Under no circumstances should the opportunity of a counseling program that helps protect consumers while also saving lenders, mortgage investors and guarantors, landlords, and investors, and even taxpayers, thousands of dollars per loan…… be believed to be un-achievable. Particularly when compared to the $7 trillion dollars of home values lost to foreclosures.

Home2Own:RealTalk is an example of investing dollars in providing housing counseling education that covers the spectrum of housing needs for all people, where everyone wins…Everyone.

• The builder of homes.
• The professionals selling the homes.
• The lender and or Banks financing the homes.
• The insurer safeguarding the deal.
• The communities surrounding the homes.
• The investors purchasing the mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities.
• The taxpayers
Fannie Mae and Freddie, both of which ultimately stand behind the vast majority of all home loans made today - government-insured loans (FHA and VA, for example) and conventional conforming loans purchased by Fannie and Freddie alike. All benefit.

HUD-Certified housing counseling goes a long way toward reducing the “risk” so often associated with buying a home.

Keep in mind, more than 9 out of every 10 Americans surveyed, regardless of age, race, gender or economics, still strive to purchase a home at some point in their adult lives —even after the recent upheaval brought by the Great Recession and its related foreclosure crisis.

Housing counseling makes home ownership in our country a safer bet for everyone involved, and there are ways to pay for it that are both practical and cost-effective. What’s needed is the results-oriented direction that involves not only the federal government, but includes the private sector in a way that is healthy and helpful for all.

Goals of Housing Counseling
There are several goals that are shared by clients, providers, funders, and policymakers. They are:
• Knowledge of budgeting
• A better understanding of managing credit
• Ways to make informed decisions about pursuing homeownership
• Realizing that homeownership may not be in the best interests of some.

Homeownership counseling provides training to clients to instill knowledge and skills needed to be a successful homeowner. Thus, homeownership counseling can have short-term and long-term benefits.
While homeownership is an admirable goal, it might not be suitable for everyone. We’ve certainly seen this firsthand. In the short run, homeownership counseling can help prospective homebuyers determine whether purchasing a house is financially prudent and assist them in qualifying for a mortgage. This might avert a situation that occurred in the recent downturn in the housing market in which many homebuyers were ill-prepared for homeownership.
In the long run, homeownership counseling can provide a continuum of services that lead up to and include sustainable homeownership, stable neighborhoods, and fewer foreclosures. Homeownership counseling can also help prepare people to become excellent tenants.

Our group education workshops serve many potential homebuyers. Our workshops are geared to provide all the information needed to become a successful mortgage applicant and homeowner.

The Housing workshops always encourage participants to ask plenty of questions. We also schedule one-on-one counseling for interested participants. Participants must complete 6 hours of homeownership counseling. A Homebuyer’s Certificate is then earned at the end of counseling sessions.
Once the client has actually purchased a home, our post-purchase/non-delinquency education and counseling helps them to navigate life as a homeowner. Common issues like:

• Home maintenance
• Financial management
• Avoiding predatory lending, and other traps of available credit as a homeowner.
• Understanding common credit problems that could lead to delinquency and foreclosure.
• Creating a realistic budget to lay a solid financial foundation.
• Understanding property taxes and insurance
• Protecting and maintaining their home(s).

The GSUL has been a proud partner of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program spearheaded by Neighbor Works America. The goal of Mortgage Default/Foreclosure Prevention education and counseling is to help homeowners stabilize their mortgage payment through assessing homeowners current hardship and establishing an agreed-upon action plan in an attempt to cure the mortgage default or prevent foreclosure.

RENTAL COUNSELING
The tenant and landlord program we propose will in fact provide quality education regarding the rights and responsibilities of both tenants and landlords in California. In addition, it will provide information and referral to housing and housing-related services. Issues covered will include:
• Maintenance
• Security deposit returns
• Lease issues
• Discrimination / other rental housing topics.

Information about these particular topics has been gathered from a variety of sources, some of it firsthand and empirical based on actual cases. We will provide education on legal and practical applications of rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants. The information is provided in plain language, problem-solving techniques are explored, alternative actions are reviewed, and the client will ultimately select the action to pursue that is best for them. Because of the housing markets collapse, evictions are on the rise….

The most vulnerable of the housing population, poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers.
We see families forced into shelters, and that’s if they are lucky to find ones with availability. We continue to see sub-standard dwellings owned by slum lords being rented to vulnerable populations. People are being forced to find less expensive housing in more dangerous neighborhoods. We see working homeless people with entire families living in their cars. This is the reason we are proposing a solution, developing a cooperative of sorts in which we take an active role in assisting these populations become educated, knowledgeable, and ready from a credit standpoint.

GSUL serves as the Community Incubator Lead (CIL) for the Black Child Legacy Campaign in Oak Park. The goal of BCLC is to reduce preventable African American child deaths in Sacramento County 10-20% by the year 2020. We work with local community groups, organizations, agencies, parents and caregivers as a collective effort to reduce these disparities; support happy and healthy children and advocate for families and communities. The Black Child Legacy Campaign in Oak Park has fostered purposeful partnerships to create a resource hub in the community. As the Oak Park CIL, we are uniquely positioned to recruit residents, provide assistance, perform effective outreach and provide timely reports towards specific outcomes. Our outreach is significant.

The adult high school offers students the opportunity to earn a regionally accredited high school diploma, preferred by employers over a GED and paves the way to college entrance. Students are assessed to determine diploma requirements and work at their own pace while guided by California- credentialed teachers. The program accepts enrollments year-round, is open to adults 22 and over, and is no cost to students.

Project NextLevel specializes in working with out of school young adults ages 18 to 26, who may live in priority zip codes of the federally designated Sacramento Promise Zone and lacking job and/or academic skills. Project NextLevel provides individualized services in leadership development, community service, life skills, and relevant work experience and occupational skills. Our aim is to teach young adults how to be successful in school, on the job, and ultimately in life.

Serves as on of the Sacramento Works America' s Job Centers network providing both job seekers and employers with access to all recruitment, engagement, training, and job placement resources, products and services in the Sacramento region. GSUL's Job Center is open to the public, offers career counseling,, employment referrals, and scholarships for vocational training. As a WIOA partner, we offer support services like unemployment registration, bus passes, rental assistance, food, work clothes and tools, child care assistance and more.

CTE courses prepare students for careers in skilled trades, applied arts and sciences, and modern technologies. Our course curriculum is designed to improve job skills and marketability in high wage in-demand and gig economy careers. Certificated programs include Microsoft Office technologies, custodial facility maintenance and Community Health Workers and program offered in partnership with HealthNet, Sacramento City College and Wellspace.