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For Further Information Contact: REALTORS Douglass Lea 202/383-7536 JOIN News Releaseemail: [email protected] SENATORS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS The Voice for Real Estate HABITAT FOR HUMANITY TO BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING

WASHINGTON, DC (April 4, 2018) – The National Association of Realtors today joined a bipartisan slate of U.S. Senators, Habitat for Humanity, and representatives from other organizations in the housing industry to construct two affordable homes in Capitol Heights, MD, only a few miles from the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The NAR representative was Iona Harrison, a local Realtor from Upper Marlboro, MD, who currently serves as the vice chair of the NAR Federal Housing Policy Committee. NAR also participates as one of five National Building Partners that help underwrite expenses for today’s kick-off event for U.S. Senators Build and the subsequent series of nationwide home-building projects for members of the Senate. NAR state associations and local boards will be asked to take part in the subsequent events. In addition to The Houses the Senate Built program, Realtors will purchase materials and construct a house for Habitat for Humanity during every annual Realtors Conference and Expo, beginning in November of this year in Chicago, IL. “Realtors, rooted in their communities and famous for developing close ties with clients, are naturally drawn to the principle of making certain that every American has an affordable place to live. Our participation in today’s event and the upcoming projects symbolizes our dedication to that principle,” NAR President Richard A. Mendenhall said. Senate co-sponsors of the project are Wayne Allard (R-CO), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Bob Graham (D- FL), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). The Senators emphasized the importance of homeownership and of building a strong, bipartisan front to combat poverty housing. Following the formal ceremony, participants were scheduled to don hard hats and carpenters’ aprons and raise the walls that frame the two new homes. Work will continue over the next three months. The completed houses will be dedicated during National Homeownership Week, the first week of June.

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#30 U.S. SENATORS BUILD – add one

The Houses The Senate Built, a public-private partnership, was initiated last year during National Homeownership Week. A Senate Resolution (S.Res. 319) called upon all Senators to participate in the project as a testament to their common belief that “everyone in the United States should have a decent home in which to live.” Members of the Senate, their families and staffs, local Habitat-for-Humanity affiliates, homeowner families, and volunteers from NAR affiliates and other national sponsors are now committed to build simple, affordable homes in every state by the end of 2001. “Today’s event across the river from the U.S. Capitol is just the beginning. I expect, by the end of this year, to see countless Realtors across the country demonstrating their personal and professional devotion to the elimination of homelessness and impoverished housing and to a dramatic expansion of diversity in homeownership,” Mendenhall concluded. The National Association of Realtors, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 760,000 members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. # # # Information about NAR is available at http://nar.realtor.com. This and other news releases are posted in the site’s “News for You” section, at http://nar.realtor.com/news.