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Program Offers Major Life Change of Home Ownership with 4-to-1 Match
BATON ROUGE – A statewide program with a 4-to-1 savings match is providing low income first-time home-buyers not only money but related financial education to gain economic self-sufficiency.
The Louisiana Asset-Building Initiative, led by the Louisiana Department of Social Services (DSS) through its management contractor, Southern University’s Center for Social Research, has 30 agencies around the state serving as case managers, including two in Baton Rouge. Its predecessor in the state was at Tulane University and ended in 2005.
DSS Asset-Building Director Drew Murray said, “Home ownership is a keystone in escaping poverty, and DSS is committed to working for such solutions. An added bonus is that home ownership stabilizes neighborhoods in the process.”
Dr. Alma Thornton, director of the SU Center for Social Research, said, “This program provides a unique opportunity for working families to become homeowners.”
To be eligible to participate, a household must have at least one minor child, be working and meet low-income eligibility guidelines of less than 200 percent of national poverty levels. For example, a family of two may earn no more than $27,380 while the maximum is $41,300 for a family of four.
Participants are expected to save at least $25 a month in an Individual Development Account, or IDA, up to $1,000. In turn, the program would provide a match up to $4,000, for a total of $5,000.
Additionally, the participants must track their household expenses and attend asset-specific training classes, including financial education classes.
The goal of the program, financed this year with $2 million, is to have 350 families actually purchase homes and to recruit 700 families to participate in the program. To date, 437 participants have registered, and 34 have purchased homes at an average purchase price of $94,040.
For the rest of this article please visit the Louisiana Department of Social Services online.
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