Letter 9-15-09

AHC President
Alton Bennett

Last week the nation became aware of video tapes made by conservative activists targeting Acorn Housing Corporation (AHC) field offices across the country. Offices of a partner organization, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were also targeted. A secret camera was used to record informal conversations in the offices. Four of the employees seen in the tapes, from two offices, are AHC employees. They are observed responding to the actors inquiries about ways to hide a prostitution business.

We were horrified, as I am sure that many of you were, when we saw the video. While no transaction took place in this incident - no client files were created or billed, no loan documents were signed or submitted, no bank loans were arranged - this is not how we behave. The employees might not have broken any laws, but they violated the moral and ethical standards that we have set for ourselves.

We have fired or suspended all of the employees that appear in the tapes and have transferred their client files to other offices. We have suspended all housing counseling work in the DC office until we conduct a thorough investigation of that offices activity.

While nothing excuses how a handful of our staff responded, we will use these incidents as an opportunity to insure that AHC operates according to the highest moral and ethical standards. We are taking steps to make sure that all employees know and understand the organization's standards, the behavior demanded by those standards, and the procedures and policies we have in place to enforce them. We are instituting an expanded series of mandatory trainings on ethical standards and behavior. We are initiating a thorough review of our existing policies and procedures.

Executive Director
Michael Shea

Having said that, we won't let the behavior of a few employees, out of the hundreds we have nationwide, be used by those with a political agenda to either define us or distract us from our mission. These videos do not show the offices where the activists were turned away. In Philadelphia we called the police (police report attached).

Our mission - to make the American dream of home ownership available to everyone who wants it and to keep people in the homes they already have - has not changed. We are proud of the work we do. The numbers back us up. In the last 18 months, we have helped over 50,000 families in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, with over 80% of those having low and moderate incomes. Since we started in 1986, we've assisted over 110,000 families to get mortgages and buy their first homes. We've provided mortgage counseling to at least 350,000 families. We have provided foreclosure prevention counseling to at least 50,000 people. Thats the ACORN Housing story.

With your support, we are staying focused on our business of getting and keeping housing for low and moderate-income families. But we take our mission and work too seriously to not take action when we learn we need to improve. We will soon reach out to you and our other partners to answer any questions you may have and to solicit your input on what else we can do to become better.

Finally, on behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of ACORN Housing Corporation, we would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who has offered words of encouragement and support over the last few days.