Michigan AmeriCorps Foreclosure Corps

What is the Michigan AmeriCorps Foreclosure Corps?

The Michigan AmeriCorps Foreclosure Corps program (MAFC) was created through a partnership between the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness (MCAH), the Michigan Foreclosure Task Force (MFTF), and CEDAM. The MAFC is an initiative designed to help combat foreclosures in Michigan by placing AmeriCorps members at nonprofit housing counseling agencies across the state.

The MAFC is designed around a proven model that has connected distressed homeowners with foreclosure counseling resources. In 2008, Foreclosure Response of Kent County, Michigan targeted specific neighborhoods with projected high rates of foreclosure through increased marketing, outreach, and educational efforts. These efforts resulted in a nearly 300% increase in the number of distressed homeowners finding assistance from Home Repair Services, a local foreclosure counseling agency in Kent County. The MAFC seeks to replicate this model in other communities of high need across the state by placing members at agencies to increase their capacity to serve more homeowners facing foreclosure.

There are currently 19 AmeriCorps members serving with the program. They increase housing counseling agencies’ ability to serve homeowners in need by taking on critical supporting functions such as intake, triage, marketing, outreach, education and generating a sustainable volunteer base, thus allowing certified, nonprofit foreclosure counselors to focus on their core mission – increasing the number of clients served.

Visit CEDAM's blog for posts related to the Michigan AmeriCorps Foreclosure Corps or foreclosure in general.

MAFC Activities

AmeriCorps members placed at nonprofit housing counseling agencies certified by HUD and/or the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) have implemented programs and strategies that have proven to be the single most cost-effective solution to stemming the tide of foreclosures. Each host site determined how to best utilize their volunteer based on the specific needs of the communities in which they serve.

MAFC members' service falls within the following range of activities:

Volunteer Generation: Members will train volunteers to assist in nearly all areas of their service to the agency, including client intake, triage, marketing, outreach, and education. The members work closely with host agency staff to develop a sustainable volunteer program that best supports the agency’s needs, including recruiting, maintaining and managing volunteers.
Foreclosure Intake: A common foreclosure prevention activity that MAFC members provide is intake and triage for homeowners facing foreclosure. Collecting accurate and complete information is a critical and time-consuming part of the counseling process. Members have been trained in the individual and group intake processes, which allows housing counselors to work with more clients. AmeriCorps members also recruit and train volunteers to support the intake function at counseling agencies.
Client Triage & Referrals: Not every homeowner contacting a foreclosure counseling agency develops into a full client for housing counselors. Some have relatively simple questions, while others are potential clients who do not complete the intake process for one reason or another. As the foreclosure crisis has grown, nonprofit counseling agencies have been overwhelmed by phone inquires about their services and foreclosure issues. MAFC members provide invaluable service to these agencies by serving as the first point of contact with clients, initiating the intake process, scheduling individual and group intakes, answering basic questions about foreclosure-related issues, and providing referrals to other services that homeowners may need such as utility and food assistance. By streamlining this process at the front end, members enable trained and certified housing counselors to focus more on direct service and foreclosure prevention.
Marketing and Outreach: Trained housing counselors are often too busy to attend community meetings or design more proactive outreach strategies and activities. These marketing and outreach efforts may be one of the most common and effective uses of MAFC members and could be the difference in connecting hundreds of additional homeowners facing foreclosure with the free and qualified services that they need.
Education: A number of members are facilitating educational workshops for those facing foreclosure, as well as workshops aimed at the community in general. Members provide the community with strategies on how to avoid foreclosure, including utilization of a free, nonprofit, certified housing counselor, as well as provide more general educational sessions such as financial literacy. While loan modifications and workouts can be immediate foreclosure prevention strategies, homeowners often must address longer-term financial management issues such as effective budgeting, saving money, and eliminating debt. In CEDAM’s current program, a handful of AmeriCorps members are also planning financial literacy workshops for high school students in an effort to ensure that the next generation of consumers makes the most informed decisions surrounding budgeting, credit, and even homeownership.

About the Members

The members who are serving with our program represent a broad cross-section of Michigan’s population and many are serving in or near their hometowns. Each member is serving for a different reason including career transition, volunteer in retirement, resume building after college, to fulfill an internship or as a way to give back to their community. Our goal is to retain each member throughout their entire service year and that the impact that each member leaves with their host agency and community will be long lasting.