The houses, falling into disrepair like the old, once-strong
neighborhoods they stood in, still remained out of reach for families seeking an
affordable place to live.
Then a church stepped in, putting money and muscle into
fixing up the old north Omaha homes, building new ones and renting and selling
them at affordable rates.
Twenty years, $34 million and more than 300 houses later,
civic and neighborhood leaders praise Holy Name Housing Corp. for its role in
stabilizing neighborhoods and providing quality, affordable homes.
Saturday, the nonprofit organization will mark its two
decades of service with a fund-raising dinner featuring one of the
organization's founders, Don Neureuther.
Proceeds will go back into the organization, which mixes
private donations with city-administered federal housing funds for a variety of
rent-to-own, second-mortgage and loan-forgiveness programs aimed at helping
people at various income levels.
Holy Name Housing concentrates primarily on single-family
dwellings, building new homes as well as fixing up older ones.
Holy Name also provides education and counseling before and
after people buy their homes.
The organization is independent of, though affiliated with,
Holy Name Catholic Church and is based at the parish school.
Maria Summers is benefiting from the organization's latest
development, Fontenelle View.
The 33-year-old ConAgra human resources specialist always
dreamed of owning her own home and had prepared for it by going to college,
working hard and socking away money she would need for a down payment and
closing costs.
The time was right last year, she said, when she saw a
newspaper story about Holy Name Housing's plan to build a 41-home development
north of 46th Street and Ames Avenue on what had become an eyesore.
Eager to stay in north Omaha where she grew up, Summers
contacted Holy Name, got qualified for a second mortgage that helps reduce the
cost of her house and moved into a $122,000 new home she helped design last
April.
Her monthly mortgage payment is just $10 more than the rent
she was paying.
"It just feels good," said Summers, who is raising
two children plus a niece she adopted. "It's a matter of knowing that
payment I send in is going toward something that's mine."
Eric Burgin, who has lived in the Monmouth Park neighborhood
near 36th Street and Ames Avenue for 12 years and is president of its
association, said the Holy Name development has helped stabilize a neighborhood
where rental homes can turn over pretty quickly.
Maxine McGaugh, president of the Clifton Hill Neighborhood
Association, said Holy Name Housing kept her area northwest of 40th and Lake
Streets from turning into a slum. She said she appreciates it when the
organization's longtime leader, Sister Marilyn Ross, attends neighborhood
events.
"Holy Name is really trying to help us," McGaugh
said.
Holy Name's effort began 20 years ago when the men's club
fixed up a donated house and helped a buyer get the money to purchase it.
The profit from that sale went into another home, and soon
one thing led to another.
Holy Name eventually incorporated as a nonprofit. And the
idea spread, in more ways than one.
Once a deteriorating house got fixed up, other neighbors
would take notice and clean up their properties, said Ross, the executive
director.
Holy Name Housing helped a group of residents start
South Omaha Affordable Housing, which has become a subsidiary of Family Housing
Advisory Services, and Omaha 100, a consortium of lenders that provides
first-mortgage financing to low-income families.
Holy Name Housing's example helped NuStyle Development
leaders Todd Heistad and Tammy Barrett create more-affordable housing
developments of their own.
The organization's strong reputation a decade ago attracted
Louis Wright.
Through Holy Name, he bought his first house at 42nd and
Binney Streets. He and his family lived there for five years and later moved.
But it was such a great experience that he ended up working for the
organization, helping about 70 families learn about homeownership.
"I was happy with my personal experience," said
Wright, now director of real estate and housing development for the Omaha
Economic Development Corp.
Ross, a Sister of Mercy who has led Holy Name Housing since
1988, said she hopes to continue the organization's mission of providing
stability to families and communities through homeownership.
The organization still has plenty of work to do, she said.
"The dream of homeownership is very much alive."
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