Nehemiah Corporation of America
Nehemiah Corporation of America is a non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California specializing in homeownership, affordable housing and community development. It started in 1994 as a small organization, but grew to prominence later in the 1990s after it developed a program that allowed home buyers to make down payments on their purchases using funds that were derived from the home sellers. This program, the Nehemiah Program, became popular and was widely emulated, giving birth to what came to be known as the seller-funded down-payment assistance industry. The industry attracted criticism from U.S. federal agencies (particularly the Government Accountability Office and the Internal Revenue Service) and was ultimately shut down in 2008 by a change in federal law.
East Brooklyn Congregations
East Brooklyn Congregations (often abbreviated EBC) is a congregation-based community organizing serving several neighborhoods in New York City. Formed in 1980, it is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation and headed by Michael Gecan. EBC is best known for founding Nehemiah Homes, which has constructed several affordable housing developments since the late 1980s in the Eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush, East New York, and Spring Creek. It has been involved in the formation of three public New York City high schools: EBC East New York, EBC Bushwick High School for Public Service, and Bushwick Leaders' High School for Academic Excellence.