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Holy Name Housing Celebrates 25 Years |
By LISA SCHULTE
The Catholic Voice
Americans know they have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
What about the right to a decent, affordable home?
Sister Marilyn Ross, RSM, believes that's every American's right, too, and as executive director of Holy Name Housing Corporation, she is working to make sure more families in Omaha enjoy that right.
Since its incorporation in 1982 as a non-profit entity, Holy Name Housing Corporation has built or renovated more than 500 homes, established three subdivisions for families with moderate incomes, and refurbished the historical Leo Vaughan Manor into apartments for the elderly in North Omaha neighborhoods. The homes are sold to low and moderate income families.
"We know our contribution has been our ability to help low income working families achieve home ownership," Sister Ross said. "These families make a significant investment in North Omaha and will continue to contribute to their neighborhood's redevelopment and stability."
Holy Name Housing was founded by two Redemptorist priests from Holy Name Parish, and Holy Name parishioner, Eddy Vaughan. The men wanted to do something about the changes they saw happening in the neighborhood around the parish. Properties were deteriorating, people were moving to the suburbs and property values were decreasing.
After they renovated and sold a house donated by a parishioner, the men got the idea that they could establish a non-profit corporation that could do the same by buying low-cost properties, fixing them up and selling them.
Out of that came Holy Name Housing ... and that same mission continues today. Each year, Holy Name Housing renovates and builds nearly 16 homes a year with funds from grants and the city of Omaha.
In addition to building and fixing houses, Holy Name Housing also provides a number of services to home buyers. It offers counseling to help address the obstacles to home ownership and to assist people in understanding the benefits and responsibilities of owning a home. The corporation also offers pre-qualification of prospective home owners, real estate services, including assistance in obtaining financing for home purchase, and warranty work for home buyers.
If qualified, home buyers also will receive training and education for Holy Name Housing's Crown (Credit to Own) Program.
"We were seeing more and more people whose wages were not increasing and yet housing was drastically increasing," Sister Ross said. "Many times these people, in an effort to survive, got into credit problems. They might not be big credit problems, but they were serious enough that they couldn't purchase a home, so they needed long-term assistance in terms of budgeting and knowing what home ownership was about."
The Crown Program allows those with bad credit histories to rent new single family homes while they work with Holy Name Housing staff to gain the proper education on what it means to be a homeowner. In addition, $50 of their rent each month is saved to help them purchase a home.
So far, 16 families have graduated from the Crown Program and have gone on to buy their own home.
Located at 3014 N. 45th St. on the grounds of Holy Name School, Holy Name Housing works to combat the situation the working poor face in cities across the country.
"Many of the working poor get shut out of home ownership. Many of them are forced to pay a rent - and sometimes a significantly high rent - on property that is not very good," Sister Ross said.
That means the family is always moving to find better property and they never become investors in the economy, she said.
"That should be your right as an American," Sister Ross said. "You should have the right to have good housing and invest in the economy."
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