Homeownership Preservation Foundation’s Colleen Hernandez Named One of Housing Sector’s “Women of Influence”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 5, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure through its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at 888-995-HOPE™, announced today that President and CEO Colleen Hernandez was named one of the most influential women within the housing sector by HousingWire, an industry news source.
HousingWire‘s annual “Women of Influence” feature recognizes women executives who have made a meaningful impact on the housing industry during the last 12 months through their leadership, innovation, and achievements. Ms. Hernandez is one of 30 women selected for recognition this year, as announced in the magazine’s September issue. More than 200 women from the mortgage, real estate, securitization, regulatory/government, and homeowner advocacy sectors were nominated.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I warmly congratulate Colleen on this well-earned recognition of her contributions as an innovative leader within the housing sector,” said Sharon Sayles Belton, former mayor of Minneapolis and founding member and current Vice Chair of HPF’s board. “She leads the HPF team with great passion and energy, and has been truly influential in challenging those working to resolve the nation’s housing crisis to find meaningful solutions that facilitate and promote sustainable homeownership. Under Colleen’s leadership, HPF emerged as the national ‘go to’ resource for homeowners in financial trouble, providing compassionate, unbiased, and reliable housing counseling to more than six million distressed homeowners – an impressive accomplishment indeed.”
Ms. Hernandez joined HPF in its infancy, establishing its Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline in only five years as the government-endorsed, go-to counseling source for homeowners facing mortgage challenges. Through her leadership, HPF expanded from a small, local counseling resource for one lender to one that has helped six million homeowners across the country to date – and from all of the country’s leading banks and mortgage servicers. Through the strategic partnerships she has cultivated for HPF with influential government entities and authorities, as well as with other non-profits focused on remedying the housing crisis – including the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), NeighborWorks America, the HOPE NOW Alliance, and myriad nonprofit community groups – Ms. Hernandez has been a welcome contributor to economic policies and housing-relief programs at a national, regional, and local level.
Ms. Hernandez has more than two decades of experience in affordable housing and community development. Prior to working with HPF, she was the Executive Director of the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance (KCNA), which oversaw the pre-purchase counseling of 15,000 homeowners alongside other initiatives that fostered homeownership and community development within Kansas City.
About the Homeownership Preservation Foundation
The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) is an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure. HPF guides consumers onto the path of sustainable homeownership and develops innovative solutions to preserve and expand homeownership. Through its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, 888-995-HOPE™, HPF provides comprehensive financial education and confidential foreclosure prevention counseling for FREE, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, in over 170 languages. Since 2007, HPF has served more than six million distressed homeowners, an average of 5,500 each weekday, who depend upon HPF as a trusted, neutral source of information and assistance. For more information about the Homeownership Preservation Foundation or the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, please visit www.995hope.org.
