{"id":162747,"date":"2026-04-10T21:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/162747\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T21:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:58:17","slug":"u-s-rep-ryan-mackenzie-and-allentown-community-celebrate-2-7-million-in-fhlbank-pittsburgh-affordable-housing-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/162747\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie and Allentown Community Celebrate $2.7 Million in FHLBank Pittsburgh Affordable Housing Grants"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALLENTOWN, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)–Today, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank), the Allentown Blueprint Communities\u00ae team, Allentown officials, local businesses and community organizations to tour and celebrate the Blueprint Communities community development progress and ceremonial presentation of $2.7 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants.<\/p>\n

\nAllentown is one of the ten Pennsylvania Blueprint Communities welcomed into the 2024 cohort; each community completes a unique 18-month training program focused on community revitalization. Blueprint Communities, an initiative of FHLBank, has supported the development of local leadership, collaboration across sectors, and holistic planning in 38 communities in Pennsylvania, and 74 communities across FHLBank\u2019s three-state district of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia since 2005.<\/p>\n

\nAllentown\u2019s Blueprint Communities team is revitalizing Allentown neighborhoods through a dedicated community strategic plan and engaging local residents, businesses, nonprofits and government entities. The Blueprint Communities initiative focuses on building strong local leadership, enhancing collaboration, and boosting development capacity to breathe new life into participating communities.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIncreasing the supply of high-quality affordable housing remains one of Allentown\u2019s most critical needs,\u201d said Congressman Ryan Mackenzie. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re taking action to improve housing affordability, including expanding the Low-income Housing Tax Credit, bringing money back to our community to enable local housing construction, and introducing legislation to reduce barriers to home ownership. We\u2019re grateful to FHLBank Pittsburgh and their local partners for investing in the housing affordability solutions that local families need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nFHLBank and two of its member institutions \u2013 Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley and American Bank \u2013 leveraged AHP funding to invest in several Allentown housing developments. The Allentown Housing Authority 6th Street project involves the construction of eight family rental units. The Gordon Street Revamp is the renovation and preservation of a 20-unit affordable housing development.<\/p>\n

\n“Today, we celebrate the collective efforts in Allentown that are making a difference for our community,” said David G. Paulson, president and CEO of FHLBank Pittsburgh. “We are honored to partner with our members to support community development and affordable housing initiatives. We extend our gratitude to Congressman Mackenzie for the collaboration that enables FHLBanks to provide this essential support.”<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe Blueprint Communities program has already allowed us to support the larger revitalization efforts in Allentown with specific housing initiatives,\u201d said Judy Hunsicker, COO of Embassy Bank and co-chair of Allentown\u2019s Blueprint Community. \u201cWe are thankful to FHLBank Pittsburgh and all our stakeholders who have supported this essential effort, and look forward to supporting affordable housing initiatives for many more years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe\u2019re proud to support the worthwhile projects that are a part of the Blueprint Communities program as they reflect our commitment to strengthening the City of Allentown and expanding access to safe, affordable housing,\u201d said Mark Jaindl, chairman and CEO of American Bank. \u201cBy partnering through FHLBank Pittsburgh\u2019s Affordable Housing Program, we\u2019re helping transform properties into places of stability and providing opportunity for families who need it most. These projects create a lasting, positive impact for the entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAllentown is in high demand. People want to be here to enjoy a safe, clean and healthy environment that gives them a chance to get ahead,\u201d said Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk. \u201cBuilding more housing protects that opportunity, and partnerships like this one help us do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn addition to Rep. Mackenzie and FHLBank President and CEO David G. Paulson, FHLBank financial institution members joined, including FHLBank Board Chair Brendan J. McGill, president and CEO of Harleysville Bank, and FHLBank Board Member Jeane M. Vidoni, president and CEO of Penn Community Bank, along with John Hayes, New Tripoli Bank; Joan Brodhead, Finanta; and Judith Hunsicker, Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley. Members of FHLBank\u2019s Affordable Housing Advisory Council in attendance were Varsovia Fernandez, Dina Schlossberg, and Christine M. Verdier. Local executive leaders attending included Julio Guridy, Allentown Housing Authority; Ellen Larmer, Valley Housing Development Corporation; and Kevin Shivers, Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers.<\/p>\n

\nAbout FHLBank Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

\nFHLBank is a cooperative whose members can access reliable liquidity and community products to support community partnerships that foster job growth, economic vitality and long-term stability in West Virginia and communities across the country. AHP was created by Congress as part of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, and operations began in 1990. On an annual basis, each Federal Home Loan Bank must set aside at least 10% of its prior year\u2019s net income to fund AHP. AHP is funded entirely through FHLBank earnings, and grants are available only through FHLBank members. The voluntary housing grant initiative is an additional voluntary pool of funding which is separate and distinct from FHLBank\u2019s required, statutory AHP, and is provided to address the critical housing needs within FHLBank\u2019s district.<\/p>\n

\nFHLBank Pittsburgh provides reliable funding and liquidity to its member financial institutions, which include commercial and savings banks, community development financial institutions, credit unions and insurance companies in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. FHLBank products and resources help support community lending, housing and economic development. As one of 11 Federal Home Loan Banks established by Congress, FHLBank has been an integral and reliable part of the financial system since 1932. Learn more by visiting www.fhlb-pgh.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBlueprint Communities\u201d is a registered service mark of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank), the Allentown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-162747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}