The North Texas Housing Coalition, Inc (NTHC) has developed five priorities to begin working towards a regional housing strategy for the North Texas area.

NTHC recognizes that its success depends on the strength of its staff, member organizations, and the working relationships within the non-profit, governmental, for-profit and philanthropic communities.  The five priorities are:

• NTHC will expand The HomeOwnership Center (THC) by focusing on pre-purchase and post purchase services including homebuyer preparation, financial literacy, and foreclosure prevention.
• Launch the Financial Education Coaching (FEC) program to provide intense counseling and instruction for homebuyers over a 9-month period to develop life management skills in the areas of savings, credit responsibility, budgeting, etc.
• Mobilize the North Texas Housing Research and Advocacy Center (H-RAC) to leverage relationships with federal, state and local governments as well as collegiate-level academic research institutions and others in order to address North Texas’ housing challenges over the next four decades proactively.
• Capitalize the NTHC CDFI in order to continue building the relationships with non-profit, for-profit organizations, and foundations to use resources to co-develop mix-used, mixed-income projects and project finance consultations.
• Manage the Dallas Mortgage Help Center (MHC). The MHC can help homeowners with mortgage loans owned by Fannie Mae, who may be in default or having difficulty in making payments.

Affordable Housing Community Needs

As the fourth largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the United States, the Dallas MSA expects the current population to grow by 56% during the next two decades.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2008 estimate, the metropolitan area's population exceeded 6.3 million people. 
• A recent study published by the City of Dallas Office of Economic Development predicts the Dallas population will grow by 3.5 million, and that the City of Dallas will have an additional 600,000 people residing here by the year 2030.
• Median income grew 6 percent from 2005 and 2006, but 14.5 percent of families with children under age 18 and 13.1 percent of individuals were still living in poverty.
• In the State of Texas, the average credit score is 666 – the second lowest in the nation.

Despite this the Dallas MSA is still one of the most affordable metropolitan areas in the country, well below the national average in cost of living. In this economy, there is an increased need for financial education awareness. Families need the tools to manage their finances wisely, thus enabling them enjoy more financial stability and security. Consumers are facing difficult economic times; increasing home foreclosures, job loss, families relying on credit cards to meet monthly expenses, and then not being able to keep up with credit card payments.

The goal of the financial education and counseling services is to address these issues by providing opportunities to obtain the much-needed skills to promote financial education and improve financial management behaviors.