[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13182]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING DIANE SHERMAN, MAINE HOUSING COUNSELOR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHELLIE PINGREE

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 1, 2012

  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I would like to honor the work of 
housing counselors across the country who have assisted homeowners 
during the hardships of the recent housing crisis--and one counselor in 
particular from Maine.
  A constituent wrote to me about Diane Sherman, a housing counselor at 
Coastal Enterprises in Wiscasset, Maine, who helped this constituent in 
a four-year process to modify their mortgage. For all that time, Diane 
has been this family's constant advocate. She has helped them through 
multiple hearings, held their bank to their word, and guided them 
through the bank's maze-like bureaucracy.
  But what has mattered to this constituent more than anything else is 
that Diane treated her family with dignity, respect, and sympathy. This 
was in stark contrast to an institution that dealt with them more like 
a number than a person. At every step of the way, Diane reminded all 
involved that this was not an inhuman transaction--the situation was 
about real people threatened with losing a home that meant so much to 
them.
  Truly outstanding, though, is that Diane performed her services for 
this family and many others while she herself dealt with life-
threatening cancer. When too sick to go to the office, she worked from 
home. She is still dealing with the terrible disease but I hope and 
pray for her recovery.
  Across the country, thousands of housing counselors like Diane are 
working to keep families in their homes. They've only become more 
important in recent years as the housing crisis impacted millions of 
families. Combined with falling home values, unresponsive mortgage 
servicers, and long-term unemployment, these families have few places 
to turn. Thank goodness for housing counselors, who work to make sure 
consumers get a fair shot. They are not always successful, but they 
still make an incredible difference for families in very difficult 
situations.
  My sincere gratitude goes to these housing counselors for their 
heartfelt work, and my best wishes to Diane Sherman for her recovery.

                          ____________________