Pub. 9 2018 Issue 3

www.wvbankers.org 10 West Virginia Banker 1968. An unforgettable year in American history. It was a tumultuous, chaotic time. We lost Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. War raged in Vietnam and protests against the conflict were growing louder. But even in that confusion and chaos, optimism remained. The Apollo space mission was taking off - literally - and in just a few months, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong would land on The Sea of Tranquility during the world’s first manned space walk. Americans won gold at the Summer Olympics in Mexico, led by a young boxing phenom name George Forman. Earlier that year at the Winter Olympics in France, Peggy Fleming was the first American figure skater in years to stand atop the podium. In the Mountain State, the West Virginia Housing Develop- ment Fund was created by the State Legislature to help en- courage homeownership and land development. Since that time, the Fund has had the honor of helping more than 72,000 West Virginians, both individuals and families, turn their dream of homeownership into a reality. To date, the Fund has issued more than $4.4 billion in bonds and has financed more than 122,000 housing units. As we look back on the Fund’s contributions to our amazing state, a few highlights shine bright. 1980 - All housing functions of the state transferred to the Fund. 1986 - In response to the November 1985 flood that affected 29 of the State's 55 counties, the Fund opened a field office in the flood area and committed more than $7,000,000 to aid families with housing needs and to assist area businesses. 1991 - The Fund developed the Low-Income Assisted Mort- gage Program to ease financial burdens on local chapters of Habitat 4 Humanity. The program would later be recognized for housing innovation by the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Business. 2000 - Moody’s Investor’s Service, Inc. raised the Fund’s long-term general obligation debt pledge to “AAA.” This was the first time a state housing finance agency had achieved this rating. 2003 - Standard & Poor’s raised the Fund’s long-term gen- eral obligation debt rating to “AAA.” The Fund continues to be the only state housing finance agency to have achieved this rating. By Erica Boggess, Executive Director, West Virginia Housing Development Fund