Fed funds might help Hispanics buy homes

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 11:20 a.m.

Hispanic families seeking to buy their first homes could get assistance if Congress approves a federal appropriation sought by Senate Democrats.

Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., and five fellow Democrats are seeking $5 million that would be allocated next year through the nonprofit National Council of La Raza in Washington on programs aimed at making home ownership easier for Hispanics.

An example would be counseling services that provide information on how to buy a home.

The Las Vegas Sun reported Wednesday that Hispanic families in Nevada owned just 46 percent of their residences compared to 64.3 percent home ownership among white, non-Hispanic, families, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures for 2000. Representatives of La Raza, a civil rights and community development organization, are in Nevada this week to explore the home ownership issue as well as other topics.

La Raza, which honored Reid in February for his advocacy of Latino issues, approached the senator earlier this year for financial help.

On Monday, Reid and the other senators -- Majority Leader Thomas Daschle of South Dakota, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California -- made their funding request in a letter to leaders of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies.

"One of the most severe problems facing America's growing Hispanic community is securing affordable, livable housing," the letter stated.

"The housing crisis within the Hispanic community is growing and needs to be addressed."

The letter quoted from a HUD report last year on "worst case housing needs," which the agency defines as low-income renters who pay more than half of their income for rent or live in severely substandard housing.

"Between 1991 and 1997, a time of economic strength throughout the country, the total number of Hispanic households with worst-case needs increased by 45 percent, exceeding 1 million in 1997," the letter stated. "This was the highest increase of any group measured."

Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said the senator is "always mindful of helping Nevadans achieve the dream of home ownership."

If the funding request is approved, La Raza affiliates such as the Nevada Association of Latin Americans in Las Vegas and Nevada Hispanic Services in Reno would be eligible to request grants to help local Hispanics who want to buy homes.