[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11481]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO CARMEN CASTRO-CONROY AND HUD-CERTIFIED HOUSING COUNSELORS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2012

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to my colleagues' 
attention the ``First Person Singular'' interview by Amanda Abrams that 
appeared in the Washington Post magazine on Sunday, July 15, 2012 about 
my constituent, Carmen Castro-Conroy, the senior HUD-certified housing 
counselor serving my congressional district.
  I commend this article to my colleagues because it highlights the 
dedication and compassion of the HUD-certified counselors who are 
assisting those hardest hit by the housing crisis. These counselors, 
whose services are funded by the federal government, help homeowners 
who are behind or at risk of becoming behind on their mortgages to 
analyze their options, prepare modification applications, and advocate 
on their behalf. Statistics show that homeowners who utilize these 
counseling services have greater success in obtaining mortgage relief 
from their lenders than those who do not.
  My staff and I have worked with Ms. Castro-Conroy since the housing 
crisis began. She is a leader in her field--a truly outstanding, 
professional and dedicated public servant. As Ms. Castro-Conroy notes 
in her interview, applying for assistance is often emotionally 
difficult--and made even more so by the poor quality of service 
homeowners so often receive from the banks. Counselors like Ms. Castro-
Conroy help homeowners to navigate these challenges with diligence and 
care.
  I hope that this article will help to educate my colleagues who fund 
these counseling services and the homeowners who use them about the 
invaluable services that our HUD-certified counselors are providing.

First Person Singular: Carmen Castro-Conroy, 40, Gaithersburg, Housing 
               Counselor, Housing Initiative Partnership

                           (By Amanda Abrams)

       We see a lot of families who have either lost their jobs or 
     experienced income reduction through a cut in salary or 
     another type of crisis related to illness, death, divorce, 
     disability. We see all of it. They feel overwhelmed. Our job 
     is to educate them so they can know all the options available 
     and make good decisions.
       Losing a home is devastating; just thinking about losing a 
     home is very stressful. It's not necessarily just a house 
     that we're talking about, it's a family. Some clients come to 
     us when things have very much deteriorated, and they're under 
     a lot of stress and their health is at risk. Not everyone 
     will stay in the homes they're in, but it's better to be at 
     peace than to try to keep a home that they cannot afford and 
     end up in a hospital. It's difficult if you've lived in a 
     home for a long time, and it's the only place that you think 
     you're going to be okay.
       Many times, even if they have family or friends, they feel 
     embarrassed to let people know what they're going through, so 
     they suffer in silence. I tell them that regardless of the 
     outcome, they're not going to be going through this by 
     themselves. It's my responsibility to encourage them and to 
     lift them up. I tell them, ``This is a house; you're bigger 
     than this, and you're going to come out of this stronger.''
       I hear a lot of judgment out there of people that go into 
     default, but I always think it could happen to anybody. I 
     have clients who never thought they'd be diagnosed with 
     cancer. Never thought they'd lose a husband. Never thought 
     they were going to lose their job. It makes me very conscious 
     about how one day you could think you have everything, and 
     the next day your life could dramatically change.
       I just got an outcome this week of a case I opened in 
     January 2011. This was a client whose husband left her with 
     five children to care for. She went from being a stay-at-home 
     mom to finding a full-time job, but her income still wasn't 
     enough to make regular mortgage payments. She just qualified 
     for a permanent modification, so she'll be able to stay in 
     the property.
       I love what I do. I was thinking about this during the 
     weekend, during Mass. This is one way to show that you love 
     God, working in the face of people that are in trouble, 
     people that are suffering. Before '08, I was working in a 
     home-ownership education program. We were all pulled out from 
     that to serve in foreclosure intervention counseling. We 
     didn't know how long it was going to last, and now we're in 
     the fourth year of crisis. And we don't see the light at the 
     end of the tunnel.

  Mr. Speaker, I am honored that Carmen Castro-Conroy is my constituent 
and that she is able to provide such outstanding service to so many 
others.

                          ____________________