Katrina families to get home-ownership help

Jacksonville – Home Ownership Workshop (H.O.W.) seminar expressly designed for Hurricane Katrina evacuees who are rebuilding their lives is scheduled for March 16 at 6 p.m. in the meeting room at Beaver Street Enterprise Center, 1225 West Beaver Street.

Vanessa Boyer, director of the Individual Development Account program at FreshMinistries, will show people how, if they are income qualified, they can build the funds needed for a down payment. Representatives from partner agencies will discuss such issues as how to repair credit.

“For people who have modest incomes, for instance a family of four with less than $38,700 of earned income, we may be able to match their savings at a two-to-one ratio, which could help them acquire as much as $6,000 toward a home purchase,” Boyer said.

The Individual Development Account program has been available to Jacksonville residents for three years, and more than 100 families are now taking part, said Boyer, who can also help people apply for their earned income tax credit and use those funds to start their matched savings accounts.

Individual Development Accounts have certain restrictions, mostly involving the income ceiling for eligibility, she said. The program is supported in part by the City of Jacksonville, Jessie Ball DuPont Fund and United Way, as well as numerous community partner agencies and foundations, and matching dollars come from both private foundations and federal funds, she said. The savings can be used toward purchase of a home in Jacksonville or in participants’ home communities, if they are planning to return.

The savings can also be used to attend post-secondary schooling or to start or upgrade a business, both which are part of an overall plan to help hurricane-impacted families rebuild their assets.

The H.O.W. seminar has limited enrollment. R.S.V.P. to Shirley, 904-854-4444.

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