HUD HOME Funds Help Hardworking Families Achieve Homeownership

The Delva and John Families with representatives from Asbury Park, NJ and New Jersey Natural Gas.

On March 19, HUD's Newark Field Office Director Maria Maio-Messano traveled to Asbury Park, New Jersey, where three hard-working families received keys to their newly constructed homes. The DeWitt Avenue homes mark the completion of 38 homes through the Interfaith Neighbors/New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) Home Ownership Program funded in part by HUD's HOME program. The homes have four-bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms, feature high-efficiency equipment, appliances and lighting to help the families conserve energy and manage their energy costs.

The DeWitt Avenue project is part of a multi-year effort to improve the housing stock and provide affordable homeownership opportunities west of Main Street in Asbury Park. That effort began in 1996 with $25,000 in seed money from NJNG, along with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program funding, which was provided through the Monmouth County Development Office. "At HUD, we recognize that decent housing and homeownership are pathways to opportunity," said Maria Maio-Messano, Newark field office director, HUD. "HOME funding creates that opportunity for hard-working families and helps stabilize the communities they live in, helping them to grow and prosper." To learn more about HUD's efforts to promote homeownership, including the recent reduction of FHA insurance premiums, contact a HUD-certified homeownership counseling center.

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