Category: News || By Staff and Wire Reports

New Homeowner Credits MVI's Help: Sticking to a plan developed through the Mon Valley Initiative's Housing Counseling Program and participating in a savings program helped create another new homeowner.

"Before I visited MVI, I'd heard there were special programs to help people buy a house but didn't know which ones I could use," says Catherine Sovari, who began her transition from "renter" to "homeowner" in June 2008 when she met with Mike Mauer, a housing counselor at Homestead-based MVI.

MVI will hold its next Homebuyer Education Learning Program workshop on Nov. 21 at the organization's office, 305 E. 8th Ave., Homestead.

Mauer says his initial review including an examination of Sovari's credit report. He found out that she was eligible for several loan programs targeted to working-class homebuyers. Sovari also qualified for what's called a "match savings" program.

"Essentially, they provide participants with limited incomes not only financial education, but additional money that can be used for a home purchase," Mauer says.

In Sovari's case, she earned $1 for every $1 she deposited, and accumulated nearly $2,000 over the past year. Mauer says she also qualified for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency's Keystone Home Loan PLUS program, which offers assistance in meeting down payments and closing costs.

"I'm proof that if you want a house, there's a plan out there to help you get it," says Sovari, who closed on her new house near McKeesport Area High School last week.

The pre-purchase housing workshop on Nov. 21 runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All participants who successfully complete the curriculum receive a certificate which enables to them to obtain community-development mortgage loans from local lenders. Breakfast and lunch will be provided at the workshop. Registration in advance is required.

MVI is also working on new home construction in Braddock, Homestead, North Braddock, Turtle Creek and Rankin, Mauer says. For more information about new housing, housing counseling or other related programs at MVI, call (412) 464-4000 or visit the MVI website.

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'Student for a Day' at Penn State: High school seniors are invited to Penn State's campus in McKeesport next Thursday to be a "student for a day."

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. in room 119 at the Frable Conference Center on the Greater Allegheny Campus, participating students will have the opportunity to sit in on a college class, engage with current students, experience the Digital Commons, enjoy lunch with a Lion Ambassador and explore the campus. Students who complete an application to Penn State will have the $50 application fee waived.

Students should bring an official high school transcript. For more information, call (412) 675-9010.

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China, Globalization Subjects of Talk: Douglas Guthrie of New York University's Stern School of Business will speak at Penn State Greater Allegheny at 11 a.m. Monday as part of the campus' 2009-10 Teaching International program.

Guthrie's talk is entitled "China and Globalization: The Economic, Political and Social Transformation of Chinese Society."

NYU's Daniel P. Paduano Faculty Fellow and a professor of management, Guthrie's recent books include Dragon in a Three-Piece Suit: The Emergence of Capitalism in China.

For more information, visit Penn State's website.

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Father, Daughter March in Vets Parade: Above, Bernard Zurawski of West Mifflin and his daughter, Alison, pause after marching in Wednesday's Veterans Day Parade in Downtown Pittsburgh.

The elder Zurawski is a member of the borough's Veterans of Foreign Wars "Intrepid" Post 914, while Alison Zurawski is a cadet in West Mifflin Area Senior High School's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Program.

The Zurawskis marched as part of their respective organizations. (Submitted photo courtesy VFW Post 914)

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Penn State Students at Auberle: More than 60 student-athletes and coaches from Penn State's campus in McKeesport conducted an "all-sports camp" at Auberle in October.

Boys and girls ages 8 to 16 received individual instruction in baseball, softball, basketball and volleyball during the all-day event on the Auberle campus along Hartman Street at O'Neil Boulevard.

Auberle is a non-profit community service organization providing residential care, mental health and substance-abuse counseling, and emergency shelter for foster children and their families.

"This was a tremendous experience not only for the student-athletes, but also for our coaching staff," says Jim Chester, athletic director at Penn State Greater Allegheny. "We were so grateful that we had an opportunity not only to share our expertise in sports, but make a difference in a young person's life."

More photos can be viewed at Penn State's website.

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Reading Program Breaks Record: Participation this year in the Consortium for Public Education's annual campaign to encourage students to read has surpassed a 10-year record, a spokesperson says.

Elementary teachers at 31 schools in the Mon-Yough area are participating in Drop Everything and Read, says program coordinator David Pribish.

Together, he says, those commitments mean more than 11,000 children will spend 26.9 million minutes --- an average of 38 hours each --- of sustained, silent reading during the course of the school year.

"It shows that our districts are committed to ensuring that students not only build reading skills, but also develop an appreciation of reading, which is the key to lifetime learning and a lot of pleasure," Pribish says.