Brothers congratulates HUD for 10 year anniversary of the Office of Housing Counseling

Brothers Redevelopment congratulates the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for celebrating its 10th anniversary of the Office of Housing Counseling.

In the past 10 years, Brothers’ housing helpline, Colorado Housing Connects (1-844-926-6632), has provided housing counseling services to over 20,000 clients throughout Colorado. Brothers employs HUD-certified housing counselors that went through certification to demonstrate proficiency in industry topics like the responsibilities of homeownership and tenancy, avoidance of foreclosure and eviction, financial management, and fair housing.

As a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, Brothers provides services to address a full range of housing counseling needs. Services include assisting homebuyers in evaluating their readiness for a home purchase and navigating the homebuying process, helping clients find affordable housing, offering financial literacy training, and providing foreclosure prevention counseling.

“It is easy to overlook just how involved housing counseling can be. When we hear from a client facing foreclosure, it isn’t about preserving an asset — it is about fighting for their home, the place where they meet their most basic needs, raise their family, and build their life,” said Colorado Housing Connects Program Director Patrick Noonan.

“Not only do our counselors respond to a client in crisis with empathy and compassion in each conversation, but they also pour hours into finding resolutions for a homeowner facing displacement. It is the small details that can determine whether a resolution is approved,” Noonan added. “Our counselors work incredibly hard to get the details right and to meet the client where they are in the moment.”

Brothers has provided housing counseling services since 1981. In 2006, the organization was selected by the Colorado Division of Housing to manage the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. Through the hotline, Brothers brought together counseling agencies across the state to help hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure. As a need for rental assistance grew, Brothers expanded the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline in 2014 to cover all housing topics — leading to the launch of Colorado Housing Connects.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brothers teamed up again with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and the Colorado Division of Housing to launch the Housing Counseling Assistance Program. Funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the program involves Brothers collaborating with numerous housing counseling and legal services in Colorado to assist residents with comprehensive housing counseling, housing navigation and eviction prevention.

The service is free to all Coloradans and operated through Colorado Housing Connects. Among the housing counseling and legal services who are involved in the program include Boulder County, Douglas County Housing Partnership, NEWSED, Denver’s Southwest Improvement Council, and others.

To access Brothers’ housing counseling services, call Colorado Housing Connects at 1-844-926-6632 or visit coloradohousingconnects.org.

“Whether it was helping homeowners through the foreclosure challenges of the 2012 housing crisis, responding to the housing needs of victims of disasters, or the continuing housing relief and recovery resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, housing counselors have been there over the last decade to support families in making critical housing choices and equipping themselves for the future,” said HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling David Berenbaum in a statement. “This month, we recognize not only our role in helping people stay in their homes during times of crisis, but also in supporting a network of HUD Certified Housing Counselors who serve some 3,000 clients a day.”