HUD's Section 8 Homeownership program and a $400,000 grant from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to Boston's Urban Edge Community Development Corporation and Quincy's South Shore Neighborhood Housing Services will change the lives of at least 30 families in Massachusetts.

In a Homeownership Month ceremony last month, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the Urban Edge CDC, South Shore Neighborhood Housing Services, four other cities and their local public housing authorities, several banks and HUD's New England Office came together at the Quincy City Hall to showcase the potential for low-income homeownership. The grant will help at least 30 families with the capital needed for a downpayment assistance - usually the greatest obstacle to homeownership - and help them buy a home through HUD's Section 8 Homeownership assistance program. The PHAs included: Quincy, Weymouth, Braintree, and Boston.

A "lottery" was conducted following a press conference, and it resulted in the selection of one very excited woman - and her children - who was pre-qualified as a participant in HUD's new Section 8 tenant homeownership program. The woman now be able to purchase a rehabilitated home, developed by Urban Edge in Boston, using both her Section 8 assistance and the capital fund assistance provided through the grant. Through this unique partnership effort, she also will be able to buy her new home at a reduced, affordable price.

HUD's Deputy Regional Director, Deborah Griswold, told the group about HUD's support for low-income homeownership, and praised the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation's creative approach. She highlighted HUD's goal of helping all American families live the American Dream through homeownership, and pointed out National Homeownership Month special recognition events being held across the country.