POUGHKEEPSIE - Members of Hudson Valley Housing hosted a panel discussion Wednesday evening to offer an opportunity for people to get to know about how specifically the stimulus money that is coming into the area will benefit them.

According to the agency's Mary Linge, the discussion panel included Congressman John Hall and others who were in the know about the usage of stimulus money and they responded to the questions residents wanted answers to such as, “How is some of this money helping me? What exactly is it doing in the Hudson Valley?”

The main focus of the discussion was the current state of the housing market and how this stimulus money would be implemented to help relieve the burden of local residents. Linge said that one of the primary efforts being supported by these funds provides foreclosure prevention counseling services for residents currently fighting to keep their homes. “We want to work with homeowners that are facing difficulty meeting their mortgage obligations,” she said.

In addition to foreclosure prevention, Linge added that another major effort being aided by federal funds is that of neighborhood stabilization and homeless prevention. According to Linge, this money is used to buy up vacant and foreclosed on properties for the purpose of development, “We will be able to obtain these properties, rehab them, and sell them to first time homebuyers.”

Linge explained that any residents who are in need of services funded by this stimulus money should only go through HUD approved agencies, such as Hudson Valley Housing, to avoid falling victim to any sort of scam by paying out of pocket for someone to help you procure the money you require.

“We want to make sure you’re getting the free services that you need," said Linge. "You don’t have to put money up front to pay somebody to help you navigate the system.”