Co-Opportunity, Inc., the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Connecticut Housing Investment Fund, Inc., Co-Op Initiatives, Inc., Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund, Inc., and Nutmeg Housing Development Corp. are hereby specially chartered as community housing development corporations pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (3) of section 8-217 and shall have the power (1) to finance, acquire, construct and rehabilitate housing, as defined in said section, and (2) to provide technical assistance and management training in the financing, acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of such housing to families (A) whose incomes do not exceed eighty per cent of the median household income for the area in which the families reside and (B) in the case of families assisted by Co-Opportunity, Inc., who wish to establish limited equity cooperatives, as defined in section 47-242, or housing cooperatives in which persons participate in the construction or rehabilitation of their own dwellings. As community housing development corporations, Co-Opportunity, Inc. and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation may qualify for assistance under sections 8-218 and 8-218e. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 8-218, 8-218a and 8-218b and any regulations adopted thereunder, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation shall not be required to be organized pursuant to the provisions of chapter 602 or any predecessor statutes thereto to qualify for financial assistance under sections 8-218 and 8-218e.