ESPERANZA USA, FREDDIE MAC WORK TO INCREASE HISPANIC HOMEOWNERSHIP THROUGH BEING CREDITSMART®

Workshops Teach Participants How To Make Good Financial Choices

Washington – Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), one of the largest residential mortgage investors, and Esperanza USA, the leading Hispanic faith-based organization committed to strengthening the Hispanic community, today announced an outreach and education initiative to help Hispanics improve their financial decision-making skills and help them on the path to homeownership. The announcement was made during Esperanza USA's National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference at The State of Hispanic Housing Dinner.

Esperanza USA is bringing CreditSmart® and CreditSmart® Español –Freddie Mac's signature instructor-led financial literacy workshops in English and Spanish – to Philadelphia, Allentown/Bethlehem, Penn., and Camden, N.J. The six-hour workshops will be offered free of charge in the community.

Latinos and their families struggle with the same financial issues as many individuals – the need to be better prepared to deal with the challenges of earning an income, spending wisely and saving money. In fact, a recent Commerce Department report found that people in America are spending 5 percent more than they earn. They are using their savings or credit to make ends meet.

Esperanza USA has trained non-profit organizations and churches serving these cities to conduct Freddie Mac’s consumer financial literacy workshops, CreditSmart and CreditSmart Español.

The goal is to enable more families to overcome many of the key barriers to homeownership such as impaired credit, inadequate resources for down payment and lack of information about the homebuying process.

“Owning a home is part of the American dream.  By offering this resource, Freddie Mac and Esperanza USA are empowering those in the Hispanic community to make that dream a reality,” said the Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr., president of Esperanza USA.

During the workshops, instructors provide information about credit and credit management, insight into how lenders assess credit histories, and how credit plays a profound role in achieving financial goals, like renting an apartment, buying a car or home, or getting a job.

According to Freddie Mac research, significant numbers of African Americans and Latinos lack accurate, reliable information about the homebuying process. Freddie Mac and Esperanza USA recognize and understand the need for prospective homebuyers to work with trusted emissaries – the faith community – to help them learn about the benefits of homeownership.

“The role of church leaders in the community gives them a unique opportunity to reach people who may be facing obstacles to buying a home,” said Dwight Robinson, senior vice president of Freddie Mac.

Esperanza USA is spreading the word about homeownership in their member churches and in the community through its website: www.esperanza.us. For more information about attending a CreditSmart or Credit Smart Español workshop, contact Rev. Hector Cortez, vice president of National Programs at 215-324-0746.

Freddie Mac believes that by educating consumers about smart credit habits and helping them understand the importance of obtaining and maintaining good credit, then they are helping them take the first steps toward homeownership. More than 57,000 people have attended CreditSmart classes since it was launched in 2000.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and two million renters in America.

Esperanza USA (www.esperanza.us) the national subsidiary of Nueva Esperanza, Inc. (NEI) located in North Philadelphia. Esperanza USA reaches out to a national constituency, helping make the dream of homeownership a reality, providing technical assistance to Hispanic faith and community-based organizations, embracing those living with HIV/AIDS, and providing workforce development opportunities for adjudicated youth. Each year, Esperanza USA organizes and hosts The National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, which brings together over 700 national Hispanic clergy and faith leaders with national policy makers.

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