Nearly a decade ago, the Mortgage Bankers Association established the MBA Opens Doors Foundation to help families with critically ill or injured children receive mortgage or rental payment assistance while seeking medical treatment. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the health of millions of Americans as well as their financial strength, HousingWire Digital Producer Alcynna Lloyd sat down in an exclusive interview with the foundation’s president Deborah Dubois to discuss how it is working to help those in need.

“With the threat of COVID-19, for our Opens Doors families, their lives just got a lot harder,” said Dubois. “It is literally a double dose of hardship, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the pandemic is disproportionately affecting the families we help.”

“When we were just a couple of weeks into the pandemic, before there were stay at home orders and mandatory closings across the country, more than a quarter of the families applying for help from the Open Doors Foundation cited the pandemic in their need for support. And my guess is that will climb to 50%, maybe even more,” she added.

According to Dubois, since the foundation’s launch in 2011, MBA Open Doors has provided more than $7.2 million in aid for 5200 families. And as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, the foundation is stepping up to provide even more assistance.