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Housing & Community | Real Life Stories « First Front Door »
First Front Door Success Stories
Mother and Daughter Settle in "Right
Home"
“The FHLBank’s Home
Buyer Equity Fund helps families in Philadelphia’s
neighborhoods realize their dream of homeownership.
Many mortgages would not be made without this vital
down payment and closing cost assistance.
— Dianna Lynch, CRA mortgage loan officer,
Commerce Bank of Pennsylvania
When Tiffany Robinson finally found the right home
in a decent neighborhood for herself and her daughter
Summer, she went to Commerce Bank of Pennsylvania to
apply for a mortgage. Though Tiffany has a good job
at a pharmaceutical company, high rent and utilities
payments had prevented her from saving enough for the
down payment and closing costs. That’s when the
FHLBank’s Home Buyer Equity Fund came to the rescue.
Tiffany was able to use nearly $3,000 in HBEF funds
to buy her home, a newly built, two-story twin in north
Philadelphia. Located near Temple University, Tiffany’s
home is close to a community center, where Summer —
now six — can go to swim or dance or learn about
literature. As part of the HBEF program, Tiffany attended
homeownership counseling sponsored by the Asociacion
De Puertorriqueños En Marcha.
The neighborhood in north Philadelphia where Tiffany’s
home is located is undergoing a comprehensive redevelopment
effort that includes establishing and expanding local
businesses, renovating several public and private buildings,
building new homes and rehabilitating old ones, and
upgrading infrastructure and planning for a new charter
school. The redevelopment is testament to what can be
done when community leaders work together to address
neighborhood needs, including that of affordable housing
for more first-time homebuyers.
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