ELKINS, WV – The HomeOwnership Center, Inc., (HOC) is excited to announce it has received a $210,000 grant to assist its efforts to create successful homeowners and provide financial opportunities and affordable loans to potential homebuyers in an eight-county service area from NeighborWorks America. NeighborWorks is a public non-profit organization dedicated to housing and community development.
“We are grateful to get these funds and plan to use them for down payment assistance loans and home repair loans,” said Executive Director Kate Somers. “The funding will also support our staff as they provide one-on-one credit and budget counseling, financial education courses for students at YouthBuild North Central and financial coaching offered in partnership with the North Central [KS1] Financial Opportunity Center, a program created to help individuals with financial stability and empowerment.”
HOC is one of 250 NeighborWorks organizations around the country funded by NeighborWorks America, a congressionally chartered, national, nonpartisan nonprofit that funds and supports regional and local agencies with affordable housing and community development initiatives. HOC is rated “exemplary” by NeighborWorks for exceeding their rigorous organizational performance standards.
Since 1998, HOC has created over 1000 new homeowners and provided counseling and/or education services to over 3,600 individuals and households. HOC staff have guided customers through the process of buying a home, create a budget, improve credit and overall financial stability.
“The work we do strengthens our communities, supports community members and other partners and businesses,” said Somers. “Homeowners touch many different sectors of the economy during the buying process and beyond – realtors, lenders, appraisers, attorneys, contractors, home improvement stores and more.”