Kevin O'Connor, Executive Director

289 Fair Street
Kingston, NY 12401

Phone: (845) 331-2140
koconnor@rupco.org

Incorporated: 1981

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STRATEGIES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Affordable Homes
Rural Ulster Preservation Company, Inc. (RUPCO) works to promote homeownership by providing counseling and down payment and closing cost assistance for new homebuyers. It has assembled a $1.3 million grant fund to assist with those costs. Since 1998, this fund has assisted 203 families acquire their own homes.

It started a Federal Home Loan Bank First Home Club Program in 1998, delivering education to prospective homebuyers on credit counseling, mortgage pre-qualification, working with a real estate agent, home inspections, and title issues. Through this program, RUPCO has helped 20 members close on their first home and five begin mortgage applications. There are currently 213 individuals enrolled.

RUPCO also provides case management and financial assistance for first-time homebuyers or owners facing foreclosure. It supplies mortgages, reverse mortgage, home equity, and debt consolidation counseling. From July 2000 to July 2001, 126 homebuyer households were counseled for a total mortgage value of $7,835,410, and 32 households received default counseling and preserved mortgages valuing $1,988,300.

RUPCO manages Section 8 subsidies for over 1,000 apartments, resulting in more than $3 million in rent payments each year.

Using various subsidies, RUPCO has been able to purchase or package the construction of 119 apartments with client-related commercial spaces. It also undertakes individual home and apartment development rehabilitation, providing financial and technical assistance to 279 very low-income families.

RUPCO is certified as a HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons With Aids) agency. It currently assists 49 households diagnosed as HIV positive or with AIDS, coordinating the provision of client services including rent assistance, personal care, housekeeping, food preparation, shopping, and other supportive services.

Community Development
RUPCO is working on a comprehensive community planning approach in the City of Kingston, which could be used by other communities. It began with the creation of the Kingston Housing Task Force. A report will be given to the mayor and city council in early 2003, recommending future steps to improve the area's housing situation.

In addition, RUPCO has launched an aggressive capital campaign to help restore the Kirkland Hotel, one of the few remaining original wooden hotel structures in the region, and an important historical and cultural icon in Kingston. RUPCO has established the "Save the Kirkland" Fund to bridge a current $500,000 gap in funding for the proposed $2.6 million restoration project.