RICHMOND, Va. — The dream of owning a home drove dozens of people to Virginia Union University on Friday morning for the Achieve the Dream Home Ownership event.
“We're opening this opportunity for all public housing residents, the first of its kind in any public housing authority in the United States,” said a representative from the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), the nation's largest HUD-approved nonprofit focused on home ownership.
The nonprofit allows qualified applicants access to a mortgage with no down payment, no closing costs, no fees, no mortgage insurance and a below-market fixed rate.
The event, co-hosted by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, invited public housing residents, Section 8 voucher holders, and first-time home buyers to begin the process of purchasing a home.
Attendees started the day with a workshop and then they were paired with a NACA counselor who guided them through each step of the home buying process.
Calvin, a participant who purchased a home through the program, shared his experience, saying, "I recently went through the NACA program, and I’m proud to say I’m a homeowner.”
“There are many more people like us, literally struggling day by day, month to month, trying to make ends meet. For the higher-ups to reach out to us and say, ‘Hey, we want to help you,’ that’s big. It’s big to me,” Lakeithsha Franklin, a Henrico mother, said.
Although not everyone left Friday’s session approved and ready to begin their home search, attendees did receive specific instructions on how to make their home-buying dreams a reality.
“I want to have that legacy for my kids. I own my own home; I can give it to my kids, my kids' kids. It’s going to pass down, so that’s the ultimate goal right there,” Franklin said.
This three-day event will continue Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone interested can walk in or register to attend by clicking here.
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