Success Stories
A Need Fulfilled
CDCU Success Story, August 2011
Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDCU) recently had the opportunity to help fulfill a homeownership need for Julia McKinney, a single mother with seven children living on a limited income who was in need of a safe and affordable place to raise her children. The following is a summary of her story in her own words.
Programs That Make A Difference
CDCU Success Story, April 2011
Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDCU) has administered the Critical Home Needs Loan Program for City of South Salt Lake since 1998 using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds through Salt Lake County. This successful program has helped dozens of families with needed home repairs including electrical and plumbing issues, heating and air conditioning needs, structural repairs and more.
Helping Homeowners in Need
CDCU Success Story, March 2011
Margarita and Jorge Gerardo are like so many who worked hard to buy a home, but came up a little short and needed some assistance to make homeownership possible. A couple of years ago, the Gerardos came to Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDCU) and applied for $5,000 in down payment assistance funding through Salt Lake City to help them buy their first home. But recently, life changed drastically for the Gerardos. Margarita was seriously injured in a car accident and eventually lost her job. This was devastating given that Jorge has been disabled since 2002 due to complications from spinal cord surgery and has not been able to work ever since. Margarita was able to receive unemployment benefits, but it was not enough to make ends meet. Yet, their son, who was living at home, began full-time employment, and the extra household income would make all the difference.
Providing Hope for Homeowners
CDCU Success Story, February 2011
Carlos and Maria Ambriz never anticipated that foreclosure could happen to them. But like so many others lately, they found themselves fighting to save their home. Carlos was working hard trying to keep his construction business going, while his wife Maria was very busy at home with their three children. Unfortunately, Carlos began seeing a steady decrease in business directly associated with the economic downturn, and knew he would soon have trouble making the mortgage payment. He contacted his lender and explained his situation and asked if they could do anything to help. He was told that nothing could be done until the payments were behind. With little savings to rely on, it wasn’t long before Carlos was no longer able to afford to keep his business going or keep up with the mortgage payments.
A Place to Call Home
CDCU Success Story, December 2010
All Randy Cecala wanted was a place to call home. However, after leasing many different homes from the Utah Department of Transportation for nearly nine years, his frustration was mounting and his hope of homeownership was fading. His situation went from bad to worse when he received a 30 day notice from Draper City to move because the latest home he was leasing was going to be torn down to make way for a new road. Though discouraged by this news, Randy knew if he wanted to improve his housing situation he would have to find a way to purchase a home of his own.
Randy lives with a physical disability and has had to learn to make do on a limited income. Nevertheless, with the goal of homeownership in mind, he diligently saved what he could for many years to use as a down payment on a home. However, finding a house he could afford that would not require extensive repairs was a difficult task. “Most of the houses in my price range were trashed,” said Randy. So his search continued until he came across a home recently renovated by Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDCU) as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Asset Control Area program. CDCU is one of only five partners across the country to administer this program for HUD in which HUD designates target neighborhood revitalization areas (based on low income, low homeownership rates, and high foreclosure rates) in order for CDCU to buy repossessed HUD homes at 50% of their appraised value, rehabilitate them, and resell the affordable housing to eligible homebuyers. Any difference between the selling price and the costs is given to the homebuyer as a forgivable equity loan in order to help them improve their economic situation through the security of some home equity.
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