412-464-4000
Mon Valley Initiative is one of only 34 HUD-Approved Intermediaries that provide supportive services, including training, pass-through funding, and technical assistance, to a network of housing counseling agencies all across the country.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is tasked with administering programs that provide housing and community development assistance, as well as ensuring fair and equal housing opportunities for all. Since 1968, the federal agency has supported housing counseling programs to provide advice to tenants and homeowners, current and prospective, on how to improve their housing conditions and meet their financial responsibilities.
MVI’s HUD Intermediary Manager, Dana Hodge II, who has worked in the industry for over 25 years and has spearheaded MVI’s program since it started in 2005, says the HUD Intermediary program expands individual agencies’ capacity.
“While a majority of MVI’s work is done locally, our HUD Intermediary program expands our impact to a national scale by working behind-the-scenes to help more than a dozen agencies that help thousands of people each year have decent and affordable housing.”
On a daily basis, Hodge is working with staff at HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C. and the 15 individual agencies within his network, one as far away as Seattle. Being part of the network significantly decreases the administrative burden on the member agencies and allows them to access additional sources of funding for their housing counseling programs. Agencies can also build peer-to-peer relationships on a nationwide scale that allow them to strengthen their expertise and pass it on to their clients.
“MVI’s core belief that there is strength in numbers is proven by the longtime support and success of this program. MVI started as a collection of local community development organizations that joined together to affect economic development on a regional scale. The Intermediary Program brings together individual agencies across the country to more effectively reach community members that need our services,” Hodge said.
For more information on MVI’s HUD Intermediary Program, contact Dana by email at dhodge@monvalleyinitiative.com or phone at 412-464-4000 ext. 4026.