The Selma Times-Journal

Around 40 representatives from area government agencies, non-profit groups and realty offices gathered at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center on Tuesday to discuss how to improve the housing situation in the Black Belt.

The Black Belt Nonprofit Housing Summit-sponsored by the Jonathan Daniels Community Development Corporation (CDC) and eight other government agencies-was an opportunity for the representatives to network with each other and learn about the different programs available to homebuyers.

The main focus of the summit was about providing safe and affordable housing for homebuyers living on a fixed income.

Callen said the summit was an &8220;excellent program&8221; that proved to be informative.

Ron Whetstone, also from Genesis Realty, said

many of his clients tell him they did not realize bad credit could hurt their chances of owning a home.

Kendrick said the Jonathan Daniels CDC is trying to accomplish many of these goals.

She said the Jonathan Daniels CDC provides homeowership and credit counseling, as well as pre-purchase counseling.

Kendrick added that the Jonathan Daniels CDC also created a &8220;Piggy Bank Savings&8221; program for young children to help teach them about savings.

Along with the Jonathan Daniels CDC, other sponsors of the summit were Fannie Mae, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division, the Alabama Housing Finance Authority, the Home Builders Association of Alabama, the Homeowership Consortium of Alabama, United Cerebral Palsy and the City of Selma.