Word: nehemiah
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Joneses' entree into home ownership and the rebirth of Junius Street are the work of the Nehemiah Project, the largest of the community-based private housing groups that are springing up around the country to answer the enormous need for low-cost shelter. From Boston and Chicago to San Francisco, nonprofit development corporations, civic-minded church groups, foundations and companies have stepped into the vacuum left by the Federal Government's withdrawal from large-scale public housing construction...
...private groups' success is getting local communities involved, which clears away expensive and time-consuming political obstacles to projects. In Brooklyn a coalition of powerful East Brooklyn churches launched the Nehemiah plan seven years ago, taking the project's name from the Old Testament figure who revived Jerusalem after the city was destroyed by the Babylonians. "Nehemiah went to the people and said we have to rebuild," says Mike Gecan, an initiative organizer. "That is what this effort is all about...
After raising some $8 million and mapping out a detailed plan for low-cost construction, Nehemiah's sponsors went looking for additional help from city hall. When New York Mayor Ed Koch pleaded poverty, the group won the day by pointing to the support that the project had already garnered. Recalls Roman Catholic Bishop Francis Mugavero: "I said to the mayor, 'I would suggest that you steal the money, and I will absolve you.' " Laughing, Koch finally responded...
...York City gave Nehemiah 30 blocks of vacant land to build on. Equally % important, the city agreed to provide each home buyer with a $10,000 interest- free second mortgage, repayable only when the house is resold. A vital ingredient in many private housing initiatives, the second mortgage can bridge the gap between the price of a home and the amount of a first mortgage that a low-income family can afford. For the Joneses, this interest-free loan, coupled with a below-market- rate first mortgage from New York State, reduced the monthly cost of their house to just...
...Jimmy Arias, who made more than $1 million playing tennis last year, qualifies because he's under 21, while a true amateur by N.C.A.A. standards could be excluded simply because he's too old. It's ridiculous." No less ridiculous, Wide Receivers Willie Gault and Renaldo Nehemiah, world-class trackmen who unsuccessfully sued to be allowed to compete in the Games, are considered somehow contaminated for foot races against the amateur Lewises because they earn their livings playing football...