(Atlanta, GA) Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 9:00 a.m., in the Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary, thousands of homebuyers will participate in a mayoral forum on affordable housing and wealth disparities in Atlanta. This event is hosted by Ebenezer Baptist Church, “America’s Freedom Church,” Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) and Martin Luther King Sr. Community Resources Collaborative (Collaborative).  Reverend Raphael G. Warnock, Ph.D., will moderate the forum.

This forum will bring together constituents, community agencies and the mayoral candidates for open dialogue regarding housing issues plaguing Atlanta’s low-to-moderate-income residents. Forum attendees will have the opportunity to ask the candidates questions and learn about each candidate’s stance on how they plan to address affordable housing barriers and the wealth gap in Atlanta.

NACA’s Homebuyer’s Workshop, providing access to “The Best Mortgage in America” (i.e. no down payment, no closing costs, no fees, at a below-market fixed rate), is being held in conjunction with this mayoral candidate forum. NACA has confirmed that over 3,000 potential Atlanta homebuyers have registered to attend this event.  Attendees will witness a NACA Atlanta homebuyer closing on the purchase of their first home with a mortgage from Bank of America at a low fixed interest rate of virtually zero percent (0.125%). This extremely low rate is possible through the NACA program by using buy-down assistance from the Atlanta Housing Authority, a strategic alliance brokered by the Martin Luther King Sr. Community Resources Collaborative.  

Bruce Marks, NACA’s founder and CEO stated, “I look forward to attending this forum and workshop to show participants how they can achieve the American dream of homeownership through NACA. This event will also demonstrate NACA’s continued importance to providing affordable homeownership for low-to-moderate-income residents in Atlanta.”

CONFIRMED MAYORAL CANDIDATES: Peter Aman, Kiesha Bottoms, John Eaves, Mary Norwood, Ceasar Mitchell and pending others.

FORUM MODERATOR: Reverend Raphael G. Warnock, Ph.D., Senior Pastor

EXPECTED PUBLIC ATTENDANCE: more than 3,000 people

DATE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2017

START TIME: 9:00 a.m. | END TIME: 11:30 a.m.

SUGGESTED MEDIA ARRIVAL: 8:30 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. | 12:30 p.m. (NACA Workshop)

LOCATION:  EBC HORIZON SANCTUARY | 101 JACKSON ST. N.E., ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30312

PARKING: FREE (National Parks Service parking lot located on John Wesley Dobbs)

EVENT HASHTAG:  #atlhousingforum2k17

EVENT HOSTS:

EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH (EBC)

Ebenezer Baptist Church (EBC): Founded in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia, thehistoric Ebenezer Baptist Church is an urban-based, global ministry dedicated to individual growth and social transformation through living in the message and carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ. Throughout its long history, EBC has served as a spiritual home to many citizens of the “Sweet Auburn” community, including the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. EBC is rich with history of leading the fight for social justice and continues that work in various capacities today via its Senior Pastor, Dr. Raphael G. Warnock. For more information, please visit www.ebenezeratl.org.

NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE CORPORATION OF AMERICA (NACA)

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA): Started in 1988, NACA is the largest HUD-Certified nonprofit, community advocacy, and homeownership organization in the United States. According to its website, NACA has been the forefront in fighting predatory lending and has been the most effective organization in providing affordable solutions to over 250,000 homeowners.  NACA provides the best mortgage in the country through its 47 offices nationwide. NACA’s founder and CEO Bruce Marks was named Bostonian of the Year for 2007 because of his work in getting the major lenders and servicers to modify home loans. He has also testified before Congress on numerous occasions including September 12, 2000—being one of the few to sound the alarm of the pending mortgage crisis. For more information, please visit www.naca.com.

MARTIN LUTHER KING SR. COMMUNITY RESOURCES COLLABORTIVE (COLLABORATIVE)

Martin Luther King Sr. Community Resources Collaborative (Collaborative): Established in 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia, theMartin Luther King Sr. Community Resources Collaborative is a nonprofit agency comprised of several local, state and national organizations (Casey Family Programs; Operation Hope; WorkSource Atlanta; and the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services) specializing in offering an array of free wrap-around life-enrichment social services in a one-stop-shop capacity to the residents of the greater Atlanta area. The Collaborative’s main goal, via non-traditional methodologies, is to remove the seen and unseen barriers that individuals and families encounter while they navigate through traditional social service programs. The Collaborative’s five main target areas are Children and Family Services; Educational Achievement; Workforce Readiness; Housing Education Services; and Family Economic Success.  The Collaborative is led by Executive Director, Detria Russell.  For more information, please visit www.mlksrcollaborative.org.