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A2 September 17, 2020 The Chronicle CSEM joins county in win-win study of homeownership program BY JOHN RAILEY Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) and the county of Forsyth have come together to study the county’s Homeownership Program, which promotes homeownership among low- to moderate-income residents by subsidizing down payments for quali fied homebuyers, mainly first-time ones. The ven ture is a win-win for the county and CSEM: The county gets a professional, in-depth study of its pro gram at no charge, and the center gets a unique oppor tunity to study a program that deals with a bedrock of economic mobility: homeownership. As of 2018, more than 800 participants had been through the program. In initial interviews with CSEM, five participants credited the program with increasing their economic mobility. Instead of throw ing money away on rent, Devvon Mack of Rural Hall said she is now in vesting in her home and building equity wealth. “I just feel like I can do any thing, buying real estate or investing,” she said. “It’s made me confident in my self.” The program (https:// www.co.forsyth.nc.us/ Housing/assets/docu- ments/AHOP_HOME. pdf) has given her and four other participants in terviewed for this story a well-earned jumpstart to the middle-class. The program, funded federally through the coun ty, state and local organi zations to participants who put up at least $1,000 each of their own money toward downpayments, comes un der the Forsyth County Community and Economic Development department. Dan Kornelis, the depart ment director, welcomes the study. “Forsyth Coun ty, with its many part ners, has provided down- payment assistance to over 800 households over the last 20 years, especially in the last decade, through our loan officer for the pro gram, Bianca Green,” he said. “Within the next few months, it is expected that the total investment mile stone of $100,000,000 will be reached for homes pur chased through the coun ty’s program. It should also be noted that all these home purchases were made by families that had incomes at or less than 80% of the me dian household income, based on family size. “Over the years, the county has cap tured an abundance of data regarding the demo graphics of these home- buyers and has recently partnered with CSEM to analyze this trove of data to gain a better understand ing of how these fami lies have been impacted by their home purchase. In formation we plan to re alize as a result includes the effect of homeowner ship on the families’ abil ity to create wealth; the difference in home ap preciation dependent on location and the date of purchase; and if racial and economic diversity of neighborhoods affect the increase/decrease of prop erties over time.” Craig Richardson, the CSEM director, said that the fact that Kornelis has opened the program’s files to CSEM speaks volumes about Kornelis’ leader ship of the program and his willingness to evaluate and enhance it - and per haps set a model for other municipalities. CSEM will mine the data and, in re porting its findings to the public, only name partici pants with their agreement. “The program is a potentially powerful op portunity for low-income residents to climb the socioeconomic ladder through two vectors: first, the purchase of a house may allow for wealth to build; second, the program allows residents to move to their most favored loca tion within the county, thus giving them better choices around neighborhoods, Submitted photo Bianca Green schools, access to jobs, re tail shops and health care,” Richardson said. “While there is anecdotal evidence of success stories, the county has not had the re sources to rigorously mea sure program outcomes. Finding out these answers has deep implications for Forsyth County with its historically poor outcomes for those attempting to es caping poverty - most no tably for people of color.” The nascent study is led by CSEM Research Manager Zach Blizard. Blizard and Ben Lewis, former CSEM research analyst, explored the files of 30 participants and posted an initial paper on the CSEM website: “What is the Success of Forsyth County’s Affordable Home Ownership Program? Ini tial Results from 30 Par ticipants.” (https://www. wssu.edu/academics/ colleges-and-departments/ college-Of-arts-sciences- business-education/center- for-study-of-economic- mobility/our-research/_files/ documents/forsyth-coun- ty-housing-initiative-re- port-ada-comp.pdf.) Now, CSEM will look at nearly all of the pro gram participants. The larger sample will allow researchers to use more ro bust analytical techniques. Whether the initial find ings persist remains to be seen. Interviews for this sto ry with five of the program participants provide a start at better understanding the program. One of the five wel comed the program be cause of the high cost of health care for a family member. Most have had job challenges and are working their way up the economic ladder. Most of the five bought hous es at costs of more than $140,000. The five range in age from 32 to 52. Most are Black, and most are single parents. All but one, Devvon Mack, bought houses in Winston-Salem. Most heard about the pro gram through family or friends. Most of the partici pants interviewed received financial literacy training to qualify for downpay ments. Most said they had initial low credit scores but raised them as they par ticipated in the program. Some said the tax values of their homes had increased. They also reported more confidence in their path to upward economic mobil ity. One talked of leaving behind deplorable condi tions in an apartment com plex. Most talked about the emotional wellbeing they have experienced from home ownership. Arteria Logan of Win ston-Salem, a secretary at Wake Forest Baptist Medi cal Center, said she had spent most of her life in apartments and home own ership changed her life. “I learned about yardwork and things of that nature,” she said. “Everything was just like a fun first to me.” She lives in the house with her youngest son, daughter and a grandchild. Jacqualyn Hurst, who is retired and lives with her husband, who works at Sam’s Club, said the pro gram made “an extreme difference in my life. It took me out of a Winston- Salem apartment complex that was roach-infested and dirty. It was a horrible experience. The landlords there would not fix any thing. I came from a three- bedroom apartment to over 2,000 square feet of space. It completely changed my lifestyle.” Devvon Mack , who works in accounting with IBM and has two children, said, “It has changed my life considerably, just giv ing my kids a better life, putting them in a better en vironment, just being sur rounded by great people in the suburbs. It’s just a great feeling. Before, I was in a small apartment in Winston-Salem. “ By the program re quirements, Mack said, she took a class in home- ownership and got coach ing on the home-buying process. “There were no surprises, and everything was clear. Without the program, I may not have made it through the pro cess. Buying a house is an emotional rollercoaster. People get really stressed out. They start the process, then stop.” Program participants said Bianca Green is very helpful. Kornelis said. “She is awesome. She’s what makes it work. She lives and breathes the pro gram, working with clients nights and weekends to suit their schedules.” The program granted Mack $20,000 for her downpayment, she said, and she bought a house for $143,000 in 2018. The house now has an ap praised value of $184,000, she said, due to develop ment in the surrounding Rural Hall area. She said she has also added on to the house. Logan said her house also cost $143,000, and she received $28,000 from the program for her downpayment. Hurst said she received $30,000 for a downpayment on the house for which she paid $165,000. Now, CSEM will sur vey many more program participants, gathering stories and crunching data to determine the effective ness of the program and the lessons on economic mo bility that can be learned from it. For example, Blizard and Lewis write that “data will be later used to rank each market area. Ranking the Forsyth County market areas will supply a way to determine if an individual or family moved to a ‘better’ neigh borhood by seeing if each participant moved from a lower-ranked market area to a better one.” Kornelis said, “This CSEM study should help reveal if homeownership is a viable activity that can bring increased pros perity to low- and moder ate-income families, and how we can best prepare households to not only purchase, but retain own ership and maximize the long-term increase in their investment.” Richardson, the CSEM director, said, “The lessons learned from this program could potentially transfer to other counties and cities grappling with the same types of economic mobility challenges. They are found in a broad swath across the American South.” John Railey, raileyjb@ gmail.com, is the writer- in-residence for CSEM, www.wssu.edu/csem. Bank$hot gives B chance to win big BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE Bankshot Basketball, home of the first all digital HORSE competition, is giving students currently attending HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Univer sities) a chance show off their skills for the opportunity to win $20,000. The Bank$hot HBCU Challenge is a high stakes competition where students across the country will have the chance to take home $10,000 and win an additional $10,000 for their school’s SGA (Student Government Association). The competi tion is the brainchild of Russell Morgan, Bank$hot’s director of operations, and his team at Showcase Sports Syndicate (SSS), an organization that hosts various sports leagues. In 2019, SSS held the inaugural sea son of the Showcase Premier Basketball League, a local semi-pro league that fea tures athletes with developmental disabil ities. After a successful inaugural season, the league was gearing up for the 2020 season when cases of COVID-19 began to spread across the country and they were forced to cancel the season. A few weeks later, Russell and his team began brainstorming ways to real locate funds for the lost season and the Bank$hot HBCU Classic was born. “We are public servants by trade and by heart,” Russell said when discussing the competition. He said as a graduate of Morehouse College, it feels good to be able to give back to the HBCU com munity. With the pandemic forcing most colleges and universities to cancel home- coming celebrations, Russell said the competition was designed to fill some of that void. BCU students a for their schools “There are some challenges that have been noted in the Black community and the HBCU community... so us being able to be a small part of the answers to some of the issues is rewarding,” he contin ued. “It’s bigger than just the student, it’s filling in the gap. You know, there’s no football season, there aren’t any home- comings, a lot things people are used to and look forward to ... and there’s a big question mark there this year, and we de signed Bank$hot to fill in a bit of that gap. To add a place where people could con nect in some sort of way.” The “$20,000 HBCU Classic” will be open to more than 100 colleges and uni versities in 20 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. BankShot will select 16 differ ent students to compete in an old fashion game ofHORSE. Sort of like the game, “Simon Says,” once it’s decided who is the leader or who goes first, that person can take a shot from anywhere on the court. The shot can be as easy as a layup off the glass, or as difficult as a MJ Fade-away or Kareem See HBCU on A6 In Memory of Thailia Mercer (Griffin) October 5,1958 September 5, 2916 Harold “John” Roseboro November 23,1919 August 8, 2916 Ruth Roseboro September, 19,1995 Junuury 31,1997 A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape..but a woman of of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape. A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fears. A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her - but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone. A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future - but a woman of strength realizes life’s mistakes can also be God’s blessing and capitalizes on them. A strong woman walks sure footedly but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls. A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face but a woman of strength wears grace. A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey - but a woman of strength has faith that it is the journey that will make her become strong. You all are truly missed. Roseboro and Griffin families www.wschronicle.com CONTACTING THE CHRONICLE www.wschronicle.com To send news items: email news@wschronicle.com 1300 E. Fifth St, Winston Salem, N.C. 27101 Main Phone Number: 336-722-8624 To send a Letter to the Editor (350 words or less) or column (550 words or less): email letters@wschronicle.com Advertising: Ext. 113 For advertising: email adv@wschronicle.com Circulation/Subscriptions: Ext. 100 For subscriptions: email plewis@wschronicle.com Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/WSChron- icle Follow us on Twitter: WSChronicle The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Chronicle Media Group, LLC, 1300 E. Fifth St., Winston Salem, N.C. 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. An nual subscription price is $30.72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636 L' Editor: Ext. 108
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