WASHINGTON, May 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- NeighborWorks(r) America, the nation's leading certifier of housing counselors, today announced that it has launched an online learning center and is offering Foreclosure Basics -- an introductory to foreclosure intervention counseling -- as its first course. NeighborWorks America is offering the course at no charge until the end of 2008 to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-certified housing counseling organizations, state Housing Finance Agencies, municipalities and other government agencies.
"The demand for certified foreclosure intervention counselors is straining the capacity of traditional site-based learning," said John McCloskey, deputy director of Training at NeighborWorks(r) America. "By offering this first-level course online, NeighborWorks(r) America increases the availability of this much needed training."
NeighborWorks America said that it anticipates offering three additional, non-foreclosure related online courses by the end of the year.
Through a competitive process, NeighborWorks America selected the Camber Corporation, of Huntsville, Ala. -- the architect of more than 400 online courses and a leader in the development and integration of online learning resources -- to develop the technical aspects of the NeighborWorks America product and the connectivity between the learning center and NeighborWorks America's existing course registration software.
The Foreclosure Basics course is open to persons inside and outside the nonprofit community. McCloskey believes that loss mitigation staff in the mortgage servicing industry may benefit from taking the basics of foreclosure intervention counseling course.
"While the loss mitigation work of services is different from the counseling done by non-profits, servicing staff who are more aware of the non-profit counselor's role, capability and process could reduce their overall loss mitigation operation costs by taking the work of foreclosure intervention counselors into account," said McCloskey.
In addition to the Foreclosure Basics course that is available now, NeighborWorks(r) expects to offer two online courses to help strengthen non-profit Board members' abilities to guide their organizations, and an introductory Federal Housing Administration course. These courses will cost $195 for all participants. To register, interested parties must register online at www.nw.org/onlinereg.
"We anticipate adding additional online courses over the next several years," said McCloskey, "but our full range of course offerings will not migrate online."
Earlier this month, NeighborWorks America completed one of its most successful NeighborWorks(r) Training Institutes in Cincinnati. More than 1,800 professionals from the non-profit community took courses in lending, housing counseling, foreclosure prevention, community building and more. The next NeighborWorks Training Institute is August 18-22 in Chicago, while an offering of courses through the Community Leadership Institute takes place June 19-22 in New Orleans.
About NeighborWorks(r) America
NeighborWorks(r) America creates opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. Since 1991, we have assisted nearly 1.2 million low- to moderate-income families with their housing needs. Much of our success is achieved through our support of the NeighborWorks(r) network -- more than 230 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In the last five years, NeighborWorks(r) organizations have generated more than $15 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks(r) America is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals. www.nw.org.