Thank you Doris [Doris Koo, CEO Enterprise] for the kind introduction. Let me also salute Diana Meyer –as she's done an outstanding job putting all the pieces of this conference together.

Today we have with us an outstanding alphabet soup group of organizations, agencies, and non-profits – from Alamo Housing to Volunteers of America – along with their top leadership.

We even have some people from academia. (And when you have professors and students attending, you know that your work has gained real currency in the marketplace of ideas.)

This conference really couldn't have come at a better time – as the nation is still reeling from the aftermath of Katrina and now the subprime fallout. In both cases, resident services can, and will, continue to play an important role in keeping families together, healthy, and in the asset plus column.

What I hope we can develop throughout the day's panels and discussions is a cluster of strategies that will help us further find ways to finance and promote resident services in family rental housing.

I know I don't have to preach to this choir, how residential services are equally essential, as the ceilings and walls are, to the survival and growth of families in need. Beyond a shadow of doubt, there is a strong nexus between effective affordable housing and efficient resident services.

Let's face it, glorified bulletin boards or expanded directory assistance pages left in the communal phone booth, accomplishes little if anything in helping disadvantaged families climb out of poverty.

Access to job training, after-school programs for kids at risk, and financial literacy classes are a "categorical imperative" that must accompany affordable housing. Otherwise, you're looking at more financial strapped families and depressed communities and properties.

As one analyst summed up the situation, "residential services are the link between physical assets and human potential."

Clearly, good progress has been made across the country in providing resident services. Just as the old Stalinist looking state unemployment offices have now been transformed into what is now called One-Stop Centers (where people looking for work can walk in and get many services like computer and job training classes) so too has the delivery of residential services undergone change.

We also have on the ground, in rental properties, single points of contact (special coordinators) that can direct expecting mothers to pre-natal care, kids to after-class tutoring, and dads to job training. And we'll hear from many participants from across the country today on the various exciting strategies they've nurtured and developed.

But more definitely needs to be done in bridging the gap between affordable housing residents and social services. And here I'm especially talking about New Orleans – a city I just came back from.

That is why Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation are renewing its commitment to New Orleans – especially in the development and delivery of badly needed residential services. We firmly believe that New Orleans needs more than just bricks and mortar for its renewal.

So we are very pleased to announce today that we will be joining with Enterprise Community Partners, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, and Providence Community Housing to help struggling residents and former residents find affordable housing and connect them to services.

Our grant – totaling nearly $1million over a three year period – will help people rebuild their personal lives as well as assist in the rebirth of one of America's most unique cities.

This grant will support residential services to nearly 300 former Lafitte public housing families.

The goal is to help with their return by providing temporary housing … linking them to basic health and transportation services … getting children enrolled back in school and tutoring programs … and coordinating job training and access to employment opportunities.

In short, our goal is nothing less than getting people back to their former communities, linking them to services, and getting them self-sufficient. Sounds simple, but it will be a major undertaking. But with so many great partners like Enterprise, we can indeed make this happen for 300 deserving families.

There is an old saying that, "you start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible." That is what we all hope to accomplish in New Orleans and beyond. By working together, we can make the impossible happen for so many families.

Thank you again for the invitation to join you this morning.