DC 37 Municipal Employees Housing Program Marks 1st Anniversary: 1,100 Members Housed - $20 Million in Loans

Cutting a cake to mark the first anniversary of the Municipal Employees Housing Program (MEHP) are, from right, new homeowners Gerald Horton (a DC 37 member) and his wife Nikki, Neighborhood Housing Services CEO Sarah Gerecke, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, and NYC Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan.

The MEHP resulted from a letter Ms. Roberts wrote to Mayor Bloomberg in 2005. Since opening its doors a year ago, the unique housing program has launched more than 1,100 city workers on the road to affordable housing and qualified members for a total of $20 million in loans. The program offers municipal employees a 5% preference for HPD homes and apartments by lottery; housing grants for first-time buyers of NYC area houses, coops and condos; credit counseling and credit repair; home inspections and mortgage loans; and more.

The DC 37 MEHP operates in partnership with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Neighborhood Housing Services, and is funded in part by Amalgamated Bank.

District Council 37 is the city's largest public employee union with 121,000 members and 50,000 retirees.