PITTSBURGH Churchgoers are urged to save cash, buy homes

When people do better economically, the church benefits, the pastor said.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Rev. Samuel Ware may not mind if you simply pass the collection plate at his Pittsburgh church -- but he may want to see a bank statement.
Ware and leaders at a dozen other Pittsburgh churches have joined the group Consumer Federation of America in an effort to boost churchgoers' savings under a program called "Faith Saves," an expansion of the federation's "America Saves," which has helped 16,000 people in about two dozen cities save money.
"If we build individual wealth, it will get back to the church," said Ware, pastor of the New Life African Methodist Episcopal Church, adding that as many as 150 people have enrolled in the program through 10 churches.
The program is at least the fifth started by the Consumer Federation of America, which also has campaigns to motivate blacks, Hispanics and people in the military to save more money.
"We need to convince people that saving is possible," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. "There is profound pessimism that people can't save $1,000."
What senator said
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., a strong supporter of so-called "faith-based" programs, said he hopes church officials, who are often viewed as trusted advisers, will encourage people to save.
"A lot of people work hard and scrape and put that little aside, but they get discouraged. One of the reasons for this faith initiative is that it helps people overcome the discouragement. It gives them something stronger to hold onto than a bank account," Santorum said.
The church-led savings drive, which started in October, was unveiled Monday and dovetails with a $100 million program started last year by government-chartered lender Fannie Mae and Countrywide Home Loans to give loans to low- and moderate-income families in Pennsylvania.
In the past year, the loan program has helped four people become homeowners, and another 10 are close, according to Countrywide.
Here's the goal
That program is part of a nationwide drive to use churches, synagogues and other places of worship to find would-be homeowners. Fannie Mae has also partnered with churches in California, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
Fannie Mae, the nation's largest mortgage lender, has pledged to help 55 percent of all minorities become homeowners over the next 10 years, up from the current level of 49 percent. Fannie Mae has set a goal of helping 6 million first-time home buyers, including 1.8 million minority families, buy homes over the next decade.
Religious organizations have long provided social services and education but in the past few years have been preaching the rewards of homeownership to low- and middle-income members. Clergy and others see homeownership as a way for their congregations to invest in the future, rather than live hand-to-mouth.
But that goal has been complicated by tough economic times, and church officials in Pittsburgh decided that pushing home ownership would do little good if congregants couldn't afford to keep them.
"When we look around the country, we see that mortgage foreclosures are at an all-time high, personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high, and if we are going to make the dream of home ownership and transforming communities become a reality, partnerships like Faith Saves need to take root," Ware said.