The nonprofit 4KIDS Leadership Endowment Foundation (4KIDS), in partnership with The Consortium for Community and Economic Development, The Lucian Development Group and the law firm Morris Hardwick Schneider, has launched a new program to transform foreclosed properties in Cleveland into low-income housing.
Called The Hough Initiative because its focus is to rebuild Cleveland's Hough neighborhood, the program is supported by Cleveland City Councilwoman Fannie M. Lewis and is operated in cooperation with Cleveland Municipal Housing Court Judge Raymond Pianka.
Morris Hardwick Schneider works with asset managers at participating banks to help identify and research land titles on properties that have been identified by the Consortium for Community and Economic Development. The Lucian Development Group helps to secure the private-equity funding and cooperation of lenders and donors.
‘Cities were losing the battle against abandoned properties long before the current foreclosure crisis,’ notes attorney Dean Talaganis of Morris Hardwick Schneider. ‘Here we saw an opportunity to assist in revitalizing a local community hardest hit by vacancies. Our goal is to bring over 300 families back into the Hough neighborhood.’
