Encourage Professionals in Your Faith Community to Mentor Families

Information by State  Print version   10 Things to Encourage Homeownership Introduction   1. Speak Out About the Benefits of Homeownership   2. Create Partnerships to Educate Potential Homebuyers   3. Encourage Families to Save for a Downpayment   4. Help Families Improve Their Credit Rating   5. Teach Young People about Financial Responsibility   6. Hold an Open House for Homeownership   7. Put Your Faith to Work with Hammer and Nails   8. Encourage Professionals in Your Faith Community to Mentor Families   9. Help Your Neighbor by Going the "Extra Mile"   10. Help Homeowners Keep Their Homes

Faith-based organizations can mobilize human resources from within their membership to help in the homeownership process. Enlisting members who are bankers, lawyers, realtors, accountants, counselors, and other professionals allows these individuals to employ their skills for the good of the community

• Make mentoring a family a requirement for successful graduates of your homebuyer training effort. Create a culture of "each one teaches one" in your program.
• Create a mentoring ministry that trains individuals to facilitate homebuyer and savings clubs. They would also be the people families could call if they have questions or see "trouble" coming as they work through their preparation and/or once they have succeeded in buying a home.
• Service clubs, fraternities, sororities and professional organizations often seed opportunities for service. Seek them out to create mentoring programs for aspiring homebuyers who are in need of extra support.
• Ecumenical organizations can often help by soliciting mentoring volunteers with participants in other programs such as NHS who already do homebuyer clubs and training

Look at these web sites to learn more about mentoring programs: http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/religion_online/welfare; http://www.ahrhousing.org/; http://mccauley.org.