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After taking a seat on the Common Council in 2018, Latoya Allen had to figure out how to make her $21,000 a year salary work for her family of three. She visited Syracuse’s Financial Empowerment Center, where she received free financial counseling so she could budget and eventually purchase a house.

With the help of volunteers, local companies, unions, and the sweat equity of future homeowners; Oswego County Habitat for Humanity, (OCHFH) recently completed renovations to a home at 21 Liberty St. for the Tunaley family in Oswego, OCHFH Executive Director Samuel Raponi.

With the help of volunteers, local companies, unions, and the sweat equity of future homeowners; Oswego County Habitat for Humanity, (OCHFH) recently completed renovations to a home at 21 Liberty St. for the Tunaley family in Oswego, OCHFH Executive Director Samuel Raponi.

Syracuse, N.Y. – Onondaga County today opened a $10 million fund to support housing development anywhere in the county with grants of $5,000 per unit, or more in special cases.

The renovations are paid for by nonprofit housing and community development organization Home HeadQuarters at no cost to property owners through a deferred loan. Property owners are required to retain ownership for a two-year compliance period, enforced through a lien placed on the property.

We ultimately found the community development financial institution Home HeadQuarters, Inc. Home HeadQuarters is a one-stop-shop, providing educational resources and purchase and construction financing to qualified individuals, families, contractors, and investors seeking to purchase and redevelop properties from the Albany County Land Bank. This partnership creates a new pathway to homeownership and wealth building for people who have difficulty securing the financial resources needed to purchase and rehab buildings. Access to capital is a crucial component of the solution: it’s one of the biggest causes of the racial and economic homeownership gaps and a tremendous barrier to creating more equitable opportunities.

Besides having homebuying questions answered by industry experts, attendees will also learn how they can benefit from the enhanced mortgage program at Syracuse University and hear about open positions available with the University.

In fact, Home HeadQuarters provided the first-ever mortgage to a family of color purchasing a property through the Albany County Land Bank. Preem Cabey, the first-time Albany homebuyer, was declined for purchase financing by at least five financial institutions before coming to Home HeadQuarters. In just over a year, Home HeadQuarters has provided nearly $1 million in purchase financing for Albany County Land Bank homebuyers.

And so we went out and found a community development financial institution out of Syracuse, called Home HeadQuarters. We can’t lend money but they can do flexible underwriting and last year alone put $1 million to first-time homebuyers who purchased properties from the land bank and then rehabbed them, people who couldn’t or wouldn’t go to traditional banks.

It's the third time the Central New York foundation received the grant dollars, and the organization plans to funnel the money to Home HeadQuarters, which will install the doors at windows at no cost to residents.

Solvay Bank recently announced that Michele Fernandez, VP, enterprise risk manager & CRA officer, has recently been elected to join the Home HeadQuarters Inc. (HHQ) board of directors as a private-sector member.

"Even for single-family houses, if we have a developer that says 'I can do five lots at one time', as opposed to many of our affordable housing agencies that maybe could do one or two houses," Owens said. "We were just at Jubilee Homes. They're a preferred developer. They'll do another set of houses. Home Headquarters. They've always been our affordable stakeholder, but we wanted to bring in some more folks who would be willing to do affordable housing."

Under the new partnership for the Rehab Loan Fund, Home Headquarters will offer both acquisition and construction financing assistance to qualified first-time or low-income homebuyers seeking to purchase and rehabilitate properties from the Chautauqua County Land Bank.

Kerry Quaglia, executive director of Home Headquarters, a nonprofit housing and community development organization in Syracuse, said the construction of smaller homes and the rehabilitation of antiquated housing in the city will be needed to expand the area’s supply of housing and keep prices from getting out of reach for the average homebuyer.

“It’s never a bad thing to have more jobs in your community,” he said. “But we need to plan more affordable housing. You’ve got to have a lot of different options for people.”

As part of its’ long-term goal to increase tree canopy in the city, the City of Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs will hold a tree giveaway, while supplies last, on Friday, September 16 at 10 a.m. during the Home HeadQuarters Block Blitz in Homer Wheaton Park, 311 Mountainview Ave, 13224. The tree giveaway is being piloted as one of several initiatives Syracuse Parks and its’ collaborators will utilize to increase tree planting on private property.

Melendez, based out of the Auburn branch, brings 18 years of experience to his new role and formerly worked with Solvay Bank. Additionally, he is a notary of public and holds a dual degree in telecommunications and communications with a minor in finance. He resides in Syracuse with his daughter and is an active member of his community, serving on the Cayuga County Board of Literacy, as a trainer and educator for Home HeadQuarters of Syracuse, and Cayuga County Chairman of Ambassadors Council for the Chamber of Commerce. He has formerly served as the president of the Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity.

Home HeadQuarters: $20,000
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