Have you been seeing For Sale signs sprouting like summer flowers in people’s front yards lately? We are in the midst of the traditional home buying season, and every year June is recognized as National Home Ownership month. Home ownership is well known as an important ingredient in strengthening local communities; among other benefits, studies show that home owners are happier and more likely to be engaged in their communities, and the children of home owners often are healthier and perform better at school. Because of these important factors, one local organization is particularly dedicated to increasing the number of home owners in our region.
The staff at the HomeOwnership Center, Inc. work every day to create and support successful home owners through credit counseling, education, and mortgage lending. As part of a week-long celebration of community strengthening activities nationally recognized as NeighborWorks Week, and to celebrate National Home Ownership month, the HomeOwnership Center is offering its services at half-price for the month of June. Customers can make an appointment to review their credit report with the HomeOwnership Center’s highly trained staff, or enroll in the June home buyer education workshop, all at a discounted price.
“We really believe in what we do, and we really believe that we can help anyone get on the road to home ownership, and so we’d like to encourage people who are even just starting to think about this for their families to take advantage of this offer and come in and see us in June,” said Kate Somers, HomeOwnership Center Executive Director. “Anyone can visit our website and click the Get Started button and they have taken a first step toward becoming a home owner.”
Many people have no idea what their credit looks like, or they know it isn’t as good as they want it to be but don’t know how to improve it. That’s where the HomeOwnership Center comes in. Carrie Shupp, Home Ownership Advisor, explained, “I work with customers every day who know that home ownership is a goal for them, but they don’t know how to start. Together we look at their credit so they know what that picture looks like, and then we can put together an action plan to move forward.”
The HomeOwnership Center is part of the national NeighborWorks network, an affiliation of nearly 250 nonprofit organizations located in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In fiscal year 2018, the NeighborWorks network provided 457,000 housing and counseling services; owned and managed 166,900 rental homes; and created more than 41,100 jobs.
The NeighborWorks network was founded and is supported by NeighborWorks America, which creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.
The mission of the HomeOwnership Center is to strengthen the communities of North Central West Virginia by creating and supporting successful home owners through sound and ongoing financial counseling, home buyer education, and responsible lending. These services are available to everyone without restrictions.