AHP Grant Helps Bryan Resident Escape Substandard Living
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BRYAN, Texas, March 18, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elvira Hernandez grew up in public housing. For much of her life, it was all she knew.
"Once you get into the projects, it's hard to get out," Ms. Hernandez said. "I was able to break those bonds."
She did it with the help of a $5,640 grant that she received through Habitat for Humanity of Bryan/College Station. Hernandez credits a former co-worker for leading her to Habitat and, ultimately, to her new home.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and The Bank & Trust of Bryan/College Station awarded a $112,800 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant to Habitat for Humanity of Bryan/College Station to provide 20 affordable housing grants to residents in the two adjoining towns. The grant funds were provided to assist qualified first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing costs on a new or existing home.
"It's an all-around great opportunity for Bryan-College Station," said Mike Holmgreen, vice chairman of Bank & Trust. "It's a great opportunity for Habitat for Humanity to help more people, and it's a great opportunity for people who weren't in a house to get into a home."
To date, the AHP grant has been used to assist four recipients and a fifth is in process, said Khris Thurmond, grants and loans specialist at Habitat for Humanity of Bryan/College Station. Each recipient received $5,640, and the nonprofit expects to award all of the funds by the end of the year. Ms. Thurmond also said she is in the process of writing another grant to seek funding for 2011.
Ms. Hernandez now lives in a four-bedroom, two-bath home in a nice Bryan neighborhood. She has a backyard patio where she and her children enjoy each other's company around an outdoor fire pit – a gift from a co-worker. Ms. Hernandez and her three children, who range in age from 5 to 17, now each have their own bedroom in the 1,230-square-foot home. Ms. Hernandez had spent the past five years sharing a bedroom with her youngest daughter so that her teenagers, a son and a daughter, could each have their own bedroom.
"The kids love the house," she said. "It's just been a blessing."
Ms. Hernandez, a part-time receptionist, said her monthly mortgage payments are less than what she paid at the public housing complex, making life less of a financial struggle.
Ms. Thurmond said Habitat provides homeowners a hand-up, not a hand-out. Like any homeowner, Habitat recipients must pay a down payment, a monthly mortgage, and property taxes. But grant assistance on the down payment and an interest-free mortgage help those who might not qualify for a conventional loan.
"Habitat is helping people in this community escape substandard living conditions, and that's what makes it so much fun," said Ms. Thurmond. "We have great results that you can see every single day."
For more information about FHLB Dallas programs, please contact the Corporate Communications Department at 214.441.8445. For more information about Bryan/College Station Habitat for Humanity, call 979.823.7200.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 12 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $65.1 billion as of December 31, 2009, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to more than 900 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit the FHLB Dallas web site at fhlb.com.
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