HHQ's Mortgage Lending to CNY Families
of Color Finds Some Attention
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If you're a contactor or own a contracting business working in CNY, you're invited to learn about HHQ's residential repair and rehab financing programs available for your customers, new residential single-family home construction projects, commercial construction opportunities and incentives and programs for local contracting businesses.
To sign up: info@homehq.org or (315) 474-1939 x5718
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Syracuse FEC Gets You in the Black | |
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For as long as she can remember, Jakia Durham-Kelly hated math. Numbers never made much sense and if it was beyond the basics, she tended to ignore it. Money just meant more math so Jakia figured that as long as her larger, more important bills were paid she could justify things like the occasional overdraft charge.
As Jakia got older, her paychecks grew, but so too, did her bills and she found that she was still living paycheck to paycheck. After building a family, Jakia found it harder and harder to manage her money and was, more often than not, in the red.
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Syracuse FEC client Jakia-Durham-Kelly | |
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Tired of not getting ahead financially, Jakia reached out and connected with the Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center. There she found her "Money Mentor" with Christian, a certified Syracuse FEC Financial Counselor.
"Christian helped me better understand money and how having a budget allowed me to keep a mental, and sometimes physical, note of how much I had to spend, without me overspending or impulse buying," said Jakia. "She taught me how to look for deals when shopping, how to set a budget and helped me stay focused on my saving goals."
Jakia and Christian have worked together for more than a year, first meeting twice a week to now meeting once a month. Christian continues to hold Jakia accountable for budgeting and advocates for the hard work required to stay on track.
"Working with the Syracuse FEC has taught me that saving small is better than not saving at all, and in return, my family and I finally have some breathing room in our savings account to go towards our other financial goals such as vacations, holidays and emergencies," said Jakia. "I'm grateful for Christian and everything she's taught me and I can't wait to see what else is in store for me on my money management journey."
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Start Your Engines for Available New Homes | |
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With this year's mild winter, local contractors for Home HeadQuarters are moving right along on the construction of five new single-family homes on Syracuse's Southside. The houses, part of Onondaga County's on-going affordable housing efforts should be ready for new income-eligible homebuyers by late Spring.
If you're a first-time home homebuyer and think one of these homes might be perfect for you, get yourself to the starting line by attending HHQ's HomeBuyer Education Course and calling Paula Miller at Onondaga County Community Development at (315) 435-3558.
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Lead Trainings, Certifications and Scholarships | |
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Last month, Home HeadQuarters helped host Onondaga County's Lead Supervisor training course onsite at HHQ's HomeOwnership Center for 20 contractors.
In April, NYSWDA (right or wrong, we say Nie /ī/ Swada) will offer two RRP Trainings for contractors and landlords. The 8-hour training provides a certificate complying with the EPA's Renovation, Repair and painting (RRP) Rule. Home HeadQuarters also has scholarships for these classes thanks to both CNY Community Foundation and Onondaga County. If interested in applying for a scholarship, visit www.homehq.org/lead-training or contact Laiza at (315) 459-6673.
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Onondaga County's Lead Supervisor Course held at HHQ in January | |
HHQ Welcomes Mallory Patel | |
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Mallory Patel joins Home HeadQuarters as Director of Home Improvement Lending where she will administer and manage the organization's home improvement lending and underwriting process. Mallory comes to HHQ most recently from Empire Freight Logistics where she was responsible for analyzing market trends, negotiating contracts and quality control and previously worked with a credit union for seven years. Mallory has a B.A. degree from Nazareth College in Mathematics with a Minor in Business Administration. Always looking for new challenges, and as a first-time homebuyer herself, Mallory felt Home HeadQuarters was a great place to take in some knowledge, while helping people and contributing to the mission of the organization.
Mallory grew up locally, in East Syracuse. She met her husband years ago playing beach volleyball. The two continue to play multiple times a week, year-round, and even travel to play competitively.
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Housing Affordability Study: Baby Boomers | |
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NeighborWorks America, a national housing and community development intermediary comprised of 240+ member organizations across the US (of which, HHQ is one!), recently conducted a housing affordability study. From the study, home ownership feels out of reach for a majority of long-term renters, and especially so for baby boomers. Nearly 3/4 of baby boomers (72%) use no resources designed to help people become homeowners — significantly more than any other generation, according to a new survey from NeighborWorks America.
Resources that make homeownership more accessible to people of all ages include housing counseling, affordable financing and closing cost assistance--all programs and services that Home HeadQuarters offers!
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1-Bedroom & 2-Bedroom Apartments for Rent | |
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Fully-refurbished 1- and 2-bedroom apartments are now available to rent at 107 E. Kennedy Street in Syracuse. Apartments have updated kitchens and baths, new flooring, paint and windows and off-street parking.
Interested, income-eligible (households making 80% or less of the area median income) should stop by Home HeadQuarters offices at 538 Erie Blvd W. and ask to fill out a Rental Inquiry Form.
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All the Flowers to Mr. & Mrs. Brown & Ms. Martin | Please join all of us at HHQ when we offer the heartiest of congratulations to two families who became, unexpectedly, new, first-time homeowners. Shirley Martin (pictured left) and Dora and Tommy Brown all made the leap to homeownership after decades of renting. Both families, well-known in their neighborhood and to each other, got a chance to offer each other well wishes at their respective "signing of the important paperwork" on the same day, just minutes apart. | | | | |
