Homebuyer Education Coordinator Kendra Love Chosen for THDA Homebuyer Education Advisory Board!

A HUD-certified Homebuyer Education (HBE) counselor, Kendra Love has been working at UHI for seven years. Being the Homebuyer Education Coordinator entails one-on-one counseling and teaching dozens of students each month in two eight-hour HBE workshops. UHI is the leading housing counseling agency in Memphis and fourth in the state of Tennessee for production, according to Tennessee Housing Development Agency’s (THDA) Homebuyer Education Initiative Peer Session.  With UHI and Kendra having so much good experience teaching and working with HBE customers, it is no wonder that Kendra has recently been named to the THDA Homebuyer Education Advisory Board. The THDA  Homebuyer Education Advisory Board was formed as a committee to give housing and financial educators a channel from which to consult THDA in their efforts to support sustainable housing choices, and strong communities and neighborhoods in Tennessee.

In the past, Kendra has been involved with THDA through trainings and her attendance at Homebuyer Education Initiative Peer Review Sessions. Based on her knowledge of the housing education industry, combined with her dedication and commitment to the profession, Kendra was selected to represent UHI and West Tennessee. She will be an asset to the advisory board and help amplify the homebuyers' collective voice for the West Tennessee region. 

Kendra's duties as a board member will include working with other HBE providers and THDA organizations from all over the state of Tennessee. They will meet a minimum of three times per year, with their discussions focusing on housing education. It is the hope of THDA that the Board will "encourage partnerships and the free flow of ideas and recommendations on better ways to serve our THDA stakeholders and the residents of Tennessee," according to a THDA communication. 

We are honored to be at the table, but not surprised that Kendra is recognized for her excellent work, dedication, and commitment to Homebuyer Education! 

Inaugural Bankers Breakfast a Success!

Networking opportunities abounded for local bankers who were in attendance at our Inaugural Bankers Breakfast. 

AT UHI, we feel it is important to acknowledge folks for their contributions and passion for investing in our work. Recently, we had the chance to thank a group of Memphis businesses and business people who make a real impact on what we do: community-oriented bankers. You can see how great it went here. Our guests enjoyed a nice breakfast spread while Board Members Keith Turbett, Teresa Cheeks-Wilson, and Mike Fearnley--and founder and Executive Director Tim Bolding--shared a little about the impact United Housing has on economic development in Memphis.

We gave out ten awards; recipients included Landmark Community Bank, Paragon, Pinnacle, Community Mortgage, Iberia, Mortgage Investors Group, and Prime Lending. We also recognized an individual banker from Landmark--David May--for his extensive community development work. Our team saw it as an opportunity to give much-deserved recognition to this community for their hard work in Memphis. It was also a good time to let them know they can join UHI committees (any committee, not just Finance) and that they are likely to get to see their dollars at work on-the-ground in revitalized Memphis neighborhoods. And since UHI is founded on the principle that nonprofits should generate social enterprise-based fees-for-service, we also proudly plugged our current programs so that the next group of bankers can invest in them the next year.

All in all the Breakfast was a huge success, with people expressing interest in coming to do a site visit to learn more and to join committees. Here's to the start of something beautiful in 2016!