NEWS ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Susan Yancy (240) 773-9060

March 17, 2004 Charles Maier (301) 929-1429

Top Officials Address Affordable Housing Issues at March 22 Conference

Regional, National Housing Solutions Featured

WHO: Senator Paul Sarbanes, County Executive Doug Duncan, County Council President Steve Silverman, Maryland Housing Secretary Victor Hoskins, housing experts from around the nation, and more than 300 housing and community development leaders, industry professionals, activists and community members

WHAT: Major conference focusing on meeting dire need for affordable housing

WHERE: Jewish Community Center, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, Maryland

WHEN: Monday, March 22, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

WHY: To generate new ideas as Montgomery County faces skyrocketing home prices and a critical affordable housing shortage

Rockville, MD – U.S, Senator Paul Sarbanes, County Executive Doug Duncan, Council President Steve Silverman and Maryland Housing Secretary Victor Hoskins will headline Montgomery County’s 13^th Annual Affordable Housing Conference on Monday in Rockville. The officials will join local, regional and national housing experts to offer ideas to address the growing shortage of affordable housing in Montgomery County, one of the nation’s wealthiest jurisdictions.

More than 300 persons are expected to attend the conference. “We’re focusing on solutions,” said Affordable Housing Conference Co-Chair Barbara Goldberg-Goldman. “We will examine how other jurisdictions have creatively addressed similar housing shortages,” noted Co-Chair Norman Dreyfuss. County Executive Doug Duncan and Council President Silverman will open the conference with remarks at 9:00 a.m.

The conference is being held at a time when Montgomery County is considering significant revisions to its Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit law, which has long required new housing developments to include a percentage of low- and moderate-income homes. The County is also grappling with converting unused school sites into affordable housing locations, a controversial proposal.

Senator Sarbanes and Maryland Housing Secretary Victor Hoskins will speak during a noon session and award $20,000 in grants to three first-time home buyers, who competed with more than 70 others for start-up funds. Officials will also give cash awards to architects who participated in a juried architectural exhibition designed to spotlight winning styles in affordable housing.

David Stanley, the dynamic CEO of a major building supply company who left his position to work to promote affordable housing, will deliver the keynote address at noon. Mr. Stanley, now Chairman of Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc., will share a success story from Independence, Missouri in which 745 units of distressed Section 8 housing were transformed into a safe, vibrant community of 2,500 residents with on-site social services, community policing, and an economic development program. A series of panels will follow the opening session and feature such topics as “Mixed Incomes, Superior Results,” “Housing that Works for the Workforce,” and “Special Needs, Special Delivery.”

The conference and contests were underwritten by BB&T, Chevy Chase Bank, Freddie Mac, Potomac Valley Bank, Fannie Mae and AmeriDream.

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