Richmond holds town hall meeting on housing crisis

In an effort to offer assistance and guidance to the thousands of residents who reportedly have been kicked out of their homes or are currently facing foreclosure, a housing crisis town hall meeting was held Thursday at St. Mark’s Church in Richmond.

Hosted by the Richmond Equitable Development Initiative,
the event came on the heels of President Barack Obama’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. During the event, community members presented new research findings on regional banking practices and proposed precedent-setting solutions to provide relief for endangered neighborhoods and for long-term neighborhood stability.

The forum included bank representatives and elected officials from city, county and state government who heard personal stories from families hurt by the foreclosure crisis and about neighborhoods torn apart by preventable foreclosures.

TOP LEFT: Vernell Crittendon, ACORN representative
TOP RIGHT: Yvonne Bailess and Irene Garcia are both victims of predatory lending and are
in the process of losing their homes to foreclosure.