Several nonprofit and government officials are applauding Barack Obama’s pick to lead the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department in part because of his willingness to work with charities.

Mr. Obama on Saturday named Shaun Donovan, currently the head of New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, as his nominee for the federal-housing agency, saying that it will play a key role in the mortgage crisis, reports the Los Angeles Times.

One of his accomplishments in New York was creating a $200-million fund with foundations and financial institutions to help small commericial developers and nonprofit groups build and preserve affordable-housing units.

“He has moved our focus beyond the old public sector-driven solutions by giving the starring role to the private and nonprofit sectors,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the Associated Press.

“I think he’s going to take HUD to another level,” Abby Jo Sigal, vice president of the Enterprise Community Partners, an affordable-housing group in Columbia, Md., told the news wire.

Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told The Huffington Post that Mr. Donovan “enjoys high regard across the spectrum of housing interests, from low-income housing and homeless advocates, public officials, developers, and financiers alike.”

What do you think of Mr. Donovan? What can the federal housing agency do to solve the current mortgage crisis? Click on the comments link below to share your views.