Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Freddie Mamaril 503 799-8421
10th ANNUAL ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER HOME BUYING FAIR
A FREE one stop home ownership fair will be held on Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Portland Community College Southeast Center, 2305 SE 82nd Ave., Portland, OR 97216 (SE 82nd & SE Division). Organizers of the fair are targeting limited-English speaking and low-income individuals or families, first time homebuyers, from the Asian & Pacific Islander and the Russian communities, immigrants and the general public from throughout Oregon and SW Washington.
Participating organizations from the housing industry including public agencies, private businesses, and non-profit organizations hope to attract over 500 attendees to a fun filled day of informative homebuyer education materials, resources, exhibits, and informational booths. Down Payment Assistance, and other fabulous prizes, free food, will be a part of the fair's activities.
A major objective of this event is to ensure the public and all communities throughout Oregon and SW Washington have access to home buying information and resources available to the public to become informed homebuyers. Homebuyer materials will include the "Basics of Buying a Home" and "Overcoming Barriers to Home Ownership." Attendees will also learn about special financing opportunities, tax credit, Individual Deposit Account (IDA) , APICIA's and other agencies' down payment assistance programs. APICIA provides financial assistance to qualified low-income families to help cover down payment and closing costs. These funds are subject to availability and qualifications. There will be bilingual volunteers and interpreters registering attendees who are interested in homeownership classes in Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin), Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, Russian and other languages.
Interested persons are encouraged to pre-register for the homeownership classes. Pre-registrants will receive an additional raffle ticket to potentially win fantastic prizes such down payment assistance and other fabulous prizes. To pre-register, log on to www.apicia.org or call 503 799-8421.
Primary organizers include The Portland Development Commission, the City of Portland, Bureau of Housing and Community Development, Key Bank, US Bank, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are serving as a community partners in this event. Participating exhibitors include a wide array of government agencies, non-profit organizations, realty agencies, lending institutions, insurance businesses, and other representatives from the housing industry. These exhibitors will be providing information about their services and free promotional items.
Major financial sponsors for this 10th Annual Asian Home Buying Fair include the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); City of Portland's Bureau of Housing & Community Development (BHCD); the Portland Development Commission (PDC); Key Bank; Washington Mutual; US Bank and State Farm Insurance.