When Linda Weisinger commits to a project, she’s in it for the long haul. The 39-year-old deputy director of Stop Wasting Abandoned Property Inc. first joined the nonprofit as an intern 18 years ago.

And just as she has stayed loyal to SWAP, Weisinger remains committed to her clients past the point of helping them purchase homes.

“It makes me very happy to hand the keys over at the closing and know that their commitment to the process has paid off,” she wrote in her 40 Under Forty application.

Weisinger developed Homebuyer Educational Classes and an Individual Work-Out Program to prepare first-time homeowners for the home-buying process. Her initiatives have shown strong, long-term success. Homebuyers who graduate from the SWAP education programs have lower foreclosure rates, and SWAP homeowners have a 98 percent retention rate overall.

“Our efforts have transformed and revitalized South Providence,” Weisinger wrote.

Weisinger’s career path wasn’t always obvious – she graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a major in textiles, merchandising and design and a minor in theater. But she soon shifted her career sights to real estate and affordable housing after interning for SWAP. She graduated from the Leadership Rhode Island program in 2008.

Weisinger’s commitment to affordable housing doesn’t end at the close of each workday. She chairs the Housing Network’s Homeownership Connection Committee.

“If you work in the housing field in Rhode Island, then you know Linda, and you know she is passionate and committed,” said Chris Hannifan, executive director of the Housing Network of Rhode Island. •