St. James’ $5,000 in down payment assistance leverages an additional $8,000 for homebuyer
(Chicago
Heights
,
Ill.)….. Like nearly half of all Americans,
Dannetta Smith establishes personal goals at the start of each new year. What
sets Dannetta apart is that she actually accomplished her 2006 New Year’s
resolution
before
2007, when she
purchased her first home in July.
The 39-year-old
Park Forest
resident’s path to homeownership was rocky.
But her resolve to provide a better life for her family, combined with an
innovative homebuyer assistance program offered by her employer, St. James
Hospital and Health Centers, helped Dannetta overcome the financial and
institutional obstacles that prevent millions of Americans from ever owning
their own homes. By participating in the hospital’s employer-assisted housing
(EAH) program, Dannetta received invaluable homeownership counseling from the
nonprofit Regional Redevelopment Corp., plus $5,000 in down payment assistance
from St. James, money that leveraged an additional $8,000 in assistance from
other public and private homeownership programs. St. James’ EAH program made it
possible for Dannetta, a lifelong renter who had been on public assistance for
nearly a decade, to buy a home just five minutes from her job as a patient care
coordinator at the hospital’s
Chicago
Heights
campus.
“[Becoming a homeowner] was a struggle,
and the program was a lot of work, but I wanted to leave something for my
children,” said Smith, 39, who has two daughters, ages 21 and 15. “Now I know I
can do all things if I stay focused.”
That sense of
accomplishment and security is one of the many intangibles
St.
James
hopes to provide its employees through its EAH program. Helping employees live
near work, improving stability and morale among workers, and providing an
innovative benefit to attract and retain employees are key reasons why more than
60 Chicago-area employers have “signed on” to offer EAH, helping hundreds of
homebuyers afford homes since the nonprofit Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC)
launched the program with its first employer in 2000.
“St. James Hospital and
Health Centers is delighted to be a part of helping Dannetta
achieve her dream of homeownership, and
we congratulate her for taking the initiative to complete the program,” said
Peter Murphy, president of St. James Hospital and Health Centers. “There is
great value in ensuring our employees can afford to live near work: it allows
them to spend more time with their families and in their communities, reduces
turnover, benefits the local community by investing in workforce housing, and
reduces regional congestion. EAH is a winning proposition for employers,
employees and the region.”
By providing down payment assistance (typically about $5,000 in the form of a
loan forgiven over five years) and free homeownership counseling, EAH programs,
including St. James’, not only put participants on the path to homeownership,
but also help them avoid the pitfalls many first-time homebuyers face. For
instance, after completing homeownership courses through the Regional
Redevelopment Corporation – a nonprofit housing counseling agency that partners
with south suburban employers to administer EAH programs – Dannetta dove into
her search for a new home. She found a real estate agent who led her to a quaint
cottage home tucked away on a quiet, curving street in Park Forest. The agent
recommended a mortgage broker who “seemed really nice,” said Dannetta, and she
was encouraged by her progress. But when Dannetta reviewed her loan and walked
the home with Peter Gunn, executive director of the Regional Redevelopment
Corporation, he was able to stop her from falling for a sham: not only was the
house “a money pit,” but the mortgage broker was charging Dannetta and the
seller the same fees, on top of sky-high interest rates.
“By working with Dannetta,
we were able to help her find a good home she truly loved, and avoid a predatory
lending situation,” said Gunn. “In addition, we helped her secure $5,000 in
grant money from Park National Bank and another $3,000 from the Illinois Housing
Development Authority, which turned St. James’ generous $5,000 in down payment
assistance into a $13,000 down payment for Dannetta’s new home.”
Federal, state
and municipal leaders have backed employer-assisted housing both as a strategy
for helping workers afford housing in expensive, job-rich markets, and as a tool
for promoting community reinvestment in distressed markets. The Illinois
Housing Development
Authority will match an employer’s down payment assistance up to $5,000 for
households earning less than 50 percent of the region’s Area Median Income (AMI), or up
to $3,000 for households earning between 50 and 80 percent of AMI. The
Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credit Program provides employers a 50 cent tax
credit for every $1 invested in an EAH
program. Even nonprofits
and hospitals such as St. James can benefit from these transferable tax credits.
In
Illinois, other employers offering EAH programs
include the
Village
of
Riverdale
and Robinson Engineering in the south
suburbs;
Rush
University
Medical
Center
and Christie Weber Landscaping in
Chicago; and Bank of America and Charter One Bank statewide. Across the country
and statewide, new employers launch EAH programs each month, indicating a
growing understanding among the private sector that it pays to invest in
workforce housing.
“Nationwide, homeownership rates continue
to climb, but for working families with children, those numbers are actually
falling. That’s because resurgent housing markets are pricing out low and
moderate-income families, while the production of affordable homes is at a
trickle,” said Robin Snyderman, MPC housing director. “The American dream of
homeownership is far beyond the reach of millions of working families, many of
whom cannot even afford the rising cost of rent, especially in communities near
jobs and transit. Through EAH programs, the private sector becomes part of the
solution, investing in housing assistance to employees while reaping bottom-line
benefits.”
MPC helps employers design customized EAH programs and
provides program evaluation. Learn more about employer-assisted housing in
Illinois at www.reachillinois.org.
About the Regional Redevelopment Corporation
The
Regional Redevelopment Corporation has been serving the needs of Chicago ’s
south side and southern suburbs since 1993, with programs that support the
availability of affordable housing, successful home ownership, local business
development, and industrial area support. Citywide partnerships empower RRC to
address issues in education, quality and affordable health care, crime
reduction, and issues that enrich the lives of local youth.
About Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC)
Founded in
1934, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group
of business and civic leaders committed to serving the public interest through
the promotion and implementation of sensible planning and development policies
necessary for an economically competitive Chicago region. MPC researches and
develops policy recommendations and conducts outreach and advocacy in
partnership with public officials and community leaders to enhance equity of
opportunity and quality of life throughout metropolitan Chicago.
About St. James Hospital and Health Centers
Established in 1911, St. James Hospital and Health Centers is a
two-campus healthcare delivery system serving the Chicago Southland region. With
hospitals in Chicago Heights and Olympia Fields, St. James provides advanced
cardiac and cancer services, and a wide range of programs and services that
respond to community needs. Through the ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis
of Perpetual Adoration, St. James has delivered high-quality healthcare for more
than 90 years. St. James was recognized by Solucient in 2004 and 2005 as one of
the nation's 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals and by the Center of Innovation in
Healthcare Facilities as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Facilities.
For more information about employer-assisted housing
initiatives, contact Mandy Burrell, MPC communications associate, at
312.863.6018 or mburrell@metroplanning.org; or Robin Snyderman, MPC housing
director, at 312.863.6007 or rsnyderman@metroplanning.org. For more information about St.
James Hospital or to schedule an interview with Dannetta Smith, please contact
Sherry Sissac, at 708.756.1000, ext. 3455 or sherry.sissac@ssfhs.org
.