Our Last Mile Fund is “one lever in a series of levers” for clients. We hope the fund will result in 75 new homeowners — and that more funders will help expand the program. “It’s difficult to forecast with high interest rates and the housing stock, but we have people who tell us that if not for the Last Mile Fund, they would not have closed.”
Our Last Mile Fund is made possible through a NeighborWorks grant, the goal of which is to support organizations that are already successful in helping people of color find homes, giving them the chance to explore new programs and to share what’s already working with others in the NeighborWorks network.
Our client, Frandys Martinez, a great example of this Last Mile Fund at work. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she’s lived in Boston since she was 12 years old. As a young person, she didn’t receive much financial guidance on building credit, she told Urban Edge. So she took a first-time homebuyer class at the nonprofit — twice — and taught her husband what she learned. As they neared the finish line, The Last Mile Fund helped with a cash down payment.
“Every time I wake up in this house, I still can’t believe it’s mine,” she says.
https://www.neighborworks.org/blog/%E2%80%8Bgrant-helps-homeownership-grow
