The Southeastern Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (SEMMCHRA) received a $7,500 Cycle 1 Community Grant from the Winona Community Foundation in 2022. This grant assisted in the piloting of a Homebuyer Club for 12 households in the Winona area.
This program was designed to assist low to moderate income households, Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher patients, and Public Housing tenants. The goals of the Homebuyer Club were to provide participants with more in-depth education into the homebuying process by helping to reduce homeownership barriers and to assist participants in becoming mortgage ready. The demographic of people served is as follows:
“We had individuals show interest in the program immediately. We had seven households register for the Homebuyer Club and had 12 children registered for childcare. However, when it came time for the first session of the Homebuyer Club, only 3 households showed. The second and third sessions each only had one person show and only one parent took advantage of the childcare offering.”
At this time, the organization has decided to put the Homebuyer Club on pause. The program would re-start if another organization requests the program and they can obtain enrollment of at least 15 households. In the meantime, they will continue to offer their traditional Home Stretch classes, which is a training course geared toward helping people understand the homebuyer process. This program is geared towards first-time homebuyers or any current owners looking for a refresher. To learn more about the SEMMCHRA, please visit www.semmchra.org.
