ABOUT HOUSING FOR NEVADA

MISSION STATEMENT:

Housing For Nevada’s mission is to strengthen families, neighborhoods and communities through quality housing.

VALUES STATEMENT:

• Empowerment
• Commitment
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

OUR VISION:

Housing For Nevada is committed to changing lives by creating strong communities that residents are proud to call home, where families and individuals:

• Are actively engaged and committed to their neighborhoods
• Can develop a heightened sense of personal responsibility for their financial success and quality of life; and
• Explore opportunities to pursue and support their life goals
  

SERVICE AREA

Currently Housing For Nevada service areas include Clark County, Henderson, and Mesquite. HFN is currently exploring Northern Nevada for possible program opportunities.

THE HISTORY OF HOUSING FOR NEVADA

Since opening its offices in July of 2003, Housing For Nevada, a non-profit affordable housing Developer and HUD certified Housing Counseling Agency, has provided education and counseling for over 2,277 households and has counseled over 4,400 clients. Through these services HFN has assisted 150 families to purchase homes of their own. Of these, 97 families have purchased using HFN’s New Opportunities for Homeownership Program. Of these clients, 81% are minorities and 28% are female heads of household.

STATION CASINOS PARTNERSHIP:
BRINGING HOME THE DREAM

HFN and Station Casinos created a partnership in 2005 where team members from all of the Station Casinos properties have access to housing-related services as well as down payment assistance. HFN has made monthly visits to the properties, on a rotating basis, and has been available in the Team Dining Rooms (TDRs). Over 826 Team Members have met with HFN staff during these visits. 72 Team Member households have attended homebuyer education. To date, twenty Team Member households have purchased their first home. Six of these received up to $35,000 each in down payment and closing cost assistance from HFN. Additionally, we continue to work with over 100 families through our one-on-one counseling program. We discuss with Team Members how important the process of developing key financial skills are to life-time financial success and how much commitment and dedication goes into owning your own home. Please visit our HFN photo gallery to view some of these happy homeowners!

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Michael Mack, Max Pawn
Chairperson

Christine A. Johnston, HFN
President/CEO

Mary E. Stanford
Secretary

Bradley K. Wallace, Wallace Neumann & Verville LLP
Treasurer

Edward T. Chichello, EC Investments
Director

Jorge Delgado, Hilton Group Vacation
Director

Jeff Dunmire, Citibank
Director

Brian Lenze, CCSD
Director

STAFF

Christine A. Johnston – President/CEO

Christine is responsible for the administration and implementation of HFN programs, real estate development activities, annual budget, fundraising, resource development, personnel management and training, public relations, developing the agency’s annual work-plan and program initiatives, collaboration with local non-profits and government entities, and she interfaces with the Board of Directors. 

Prior to years of staff positions and volunteering with non-profits Christine came to Las Vegas after spending 10 years in the major motion picture industry where she worked as a Production Manager and Associate Producer with such studios as Walt Disney Studio, Carolco, Warner Bros and Twentieth Century Fox.  Before moving to Los Angeles Christine was a Realtor and Property Manager in Nebraska, after attending the University of Nebraska.

Ruben Ruiz – Chief Financial Officer

Ruben Ruiz provides financial management supervision for HFN.  He has a Bachelor’s of Business Management/Accounting. Ruben has worked in the area of nonprofit accounting since 1996. Ruben has held several positions from Senior Accountant, Asset Manager and Controller. He has experience with housing development, program management and has worked with Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects.  In addition to the management and financial management and reporting, Ruben is also a Certified Public Housing Accounting Specialist.

Heather  Sanchez – Counseling and Education Director

Heather manages the counseling and education programs at HFN. Heather also facilitates the closing process for clients purchasing through HFN. She establishes HFN policies and procedures, and is a certified housing counselor from NeighborWorks in addition to being certified in homebuyer education instruction. She is also an instructor for HFN’s Homebuyer Education and Financial Literacy classes in English.

Eric Chavez – Bilingual Housing Counselor

Eric is a bilingual counselor who assists clients with foreclosure intervention services as well as with pre-purchase counseling services. He determines a client’s eligibility for assistance programs, aids them with budget preparation, and with the review or repair of their credit report. He is also an instructor for HFN’s Homebuyer Education classes, and Financial Literacy classes, in English and in Spanish. Furthermore, Eric reaches out to the community by participating in local events and outreach activities to create housing awareness.

LaToya – Housing Counselor

Latoya provides one-on-one counseling to potential homebuyers to identify and address personal barriers to homeownership. She assesses a homebuyer’s eligibility for the down payment assistance programs. She also assists the client with review and repair of their credit report, budget preparation, and guidance throughout the process of the home purchase. Latoya also serves as a closing specialist. She assists in the closing of transactions for successful purchases through the down payment assistance programs. She also acts as coordinator for HFN’s Homebuyer Education classes, and oversees the preparation of materials, and scheduling of guest speakers.

Joanna Nunez – Bilingual Housing Counselor

Joanna provides one-on-one counseling to potential homebuyers to identify and address personal barriers to homeownership. She assesses a homebuyer’s eligibility for the down payment assistance programs. She also assists the client with review and repair of their credit report, budget preparation, and guidance throughout the process of the home purchase. Joanna will also serve as a closing specialist. She assists in the closing of transactions for successful purchases through the down payment assistance programs.

Lydia J. Camacho – Property Development Director

Lydia is responsible for directing the various components and procedures of the property department. She oversees property acquisition, inspection, rehabilitation, and contractor procurement. Lydia has extensive experience in Housing Construction, Building & Safety Code Compliance, Community Development Block Grant Program, Federal/State  HOME Investment Partnership Act, American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Capital Fund Program and various other federal programs.  She is experienced in designing and implementing Capital Improvement Projects, Home Rehabilitation Programs, First Time Homebuyer Programs, Energy Efficiency Programs, Landscape Programs, Emergency Repair Programs and processing FHA, VA and conventional mortgages.

Justin Ponkow – Property Development Specialist

Justin assists the property coordinator with the daily operations of the property department. He acts as an intermediary between HFN, inspectors, contractors, and municipal representatives. Justin performs routine inspections on properties in rehab, and maintains schedules and reports on the progress of a property as it nears completion.

Hugo Calderon – Client Services Coordinator & Accounts Payable
Hugo serves as the first point of contact for HFN clients and assists them with referrals to housing resources, registration to HFN classes, and scheduling of counseling appointments.