In collaboration with the City of Chicago, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and many others, NHS formed the first Home Ownership Preservation Initiative (HOPI). This initiative became the model for foreclosure prevention and has been replicated across the country. Because of this experience, NHS was wellprepared to assist Chicagoans in the recent housing market downturn.
By contrast, many communities are facing the issues of vacancy, abandonment, and decay for the first time, and these communities need help to grow the human and financial capital required to address neighborhood decline. These capacities do not appear overnight, but they can be developed.