St. John's News

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Senator Charles Schumer, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Catholic Charities and St. John’s University joined together to sponsor a forum titled: “The Mortgage Crisis: Impact on Individuals, Families and Communities” at St. John’s University’s Council Hall this afternoon. 

Community leaders, advocates and financial counselors and lenders gathered to discuss the current state of defaults and foreclosures of homeowners throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn.  Welcomed by Sister Margaret John Kelly, DC, Executive Director of the Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John’s, featured guests described the situation as crisis affecting not just the individual homeowners, but their entire communities.

In his opening remarks, Bishop DiMarzio pointed out the staggering fact that of the 14,000 foreclosures in New York City, 10,000 are within the Diocese of Brooklyn.  He stated that the goals of today’s forum were to “go to the heart of the matter” and “to work with how we can help those who are in danger of losing their homes.”  He went on to say, “We are in the crisis of many people facing homelessness and that is something we just don’t stand by and do nothing about.”

The afternoon’s discussions were broken down into two panels, each designed to share vital information among the participants.  Panel 1, moderated by Professor Ann Goldweber, Director of the Elder Law Clinic at St. John’s University, was titled: “The Scope of the Crisis: The Extent of the Crisis and Long-Range Projections of the Impact in Brooklyn and Queens.  Sarah Ludwig, Executive Director, NEDAP; Oda Friedheim, Staff Attorney, NY Legal Aid Society; and Stephanie Lawes, Margert Community Corporation, served as panelists for this topic.

Panel 2, titled: “Helping Homeowners in Crisis: Resources to Assist with ‘Fiscal Shame,’ Crisis Intervention, Relocation and Gaps in Services,” featured guests Deyanira Del Rio, Associate Director, NEDAP; Juan Santana, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of NYC; Corey M. Franzini, Senior Mortgage Consultant, Lend America; Stephen Levin, Chief of Staff, Assemblymember Vito J. Lopez, and Bertha Lewis, Executive Director, NY Acorn.    This panel was moderated by Nina Valmonte, Associate Director, Parish and Community, Catholic Charities. 

The final segment: “Strategies for Action,” was table conversations and summations and was moderated by Mary Ann Dantuono, Associate Director, Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John’s University.  Specific questions were raised to encourage dialogue, to identify resources and to discuss future legislations.

Workshops dealing with this mortgage crisis have been taking place at parishes throughout the diocese and will continue to do so through June.