BengalNews Reporters
After about six months, Jolene Baller finally completed the home buying process that the West Side Neighborhood Housing Services set up for her.
The former radio DJ’s experiences with the Neighborhood Housing Service included undergoing full cycle lending, home buyer education classes, as well as foreclosure counseling.
For Baller, the organization pushed her into a direction that was easy enough for her avoid the negative aspects of home purchasing and to stay focused on finalizing the deed to her new home on 17th Street.
“So many people get caught up in predatory lending. For any questions I had, I was lucky to have someone guide me through,” Baller said.
Baller initially got involved with West Side Neighborhood Housing Services when a friend recommended that the organization could aid in her home ownership process. She is one of an estimated 50 to 75 people helped yearly by Neighborhood Housing Services.
“My rent is lower than any rent I’d paid for 15 years before buying this house,” said Baller of the house they helped her obtain.
According to Baller, $50 million was given to New York State to assist people who were looking for grants to buy a house. That grant money was divided amongst several organizations including West Side Neighborhood Housing Services, and from there re-distributed to perspective first-time homeowners.
West Side Neighborhood Housing Services has been located on Connecticut Street and have been helping individuals like Baller in the home-buying process for the past 30 years extending its operations specifically to anywhere west of Main Street. As a non-for-profit organization, Neighborhood Housing Services is able to help people all over the West Side by supplying grants funded by Neighbor Works America through Congress.
Linda Chiarenza is executive director at West Side Neighborhood Housing Services. One of Chiarenza’s many responsibilities is writing grants for homes that need adaptations done accommodate its owners and to help coordinate rehabilitation to existing buildings. Baller worked with Chiarenza and received grants to close the deal on her 17th Street home. But for Chiarenza, working for organization is more than just a job, she does it because she said she “believes in the potential” of the West Side.
“In the past year we’ve done about 100 to 125 full home rehabilitations. We’ve also completed many partial rehabs including porches, or even fixing a chimney,” said Chiarenza.
Chiarenza also touched on how the organization has made efforts to cater to their clientele above and beyond cultural boundaries. A few patrons of the organizations were of the Muslim faith and a mandated rule in the religion states that followers are not allowed to pay interest. Chiarenza has looked into finding a loan that could cater to working around this rule ensuring potential future Muslim clientele can benefit in the same way.
For individuals like Baller, Neighborhood Housing Services was more than just a catalyst in obtaining a house; it was a gateway to understanding home ownership. Baller is quite satisfied with her current home and the knowledge she has retained through the organization’s homebuyer education classes. Baller elaborates on what she feels is important when individuals are considering the home buying process.
“My mortgage is lower than any rent I’d paid for 15 years before buying this house. I feel what changes a neighborhood is having people who have an invested interest in their homes, their streets, their neighborhoods,” Baller said
West Side Neighborhood Housing Services is true to its name, located and operating solely on the West Side of Buffalo. WSNHS, for short, has spent the last 30 years located on Connecticut Street. Their role in the community is to help West Side citizens not only find housing, but also provide grants to current homeowners as well as carrying through any rehabilitation needed to their current homes.
ReplyDeleteWest Side Neighborhood Housing Services is a chartered member of Neighbor Works America since 1991. Neighbor Works America is a larger coalition of organizations like WSNHS that specifically receives grants from Congress and then distributes them amongst all its organizations. Some services available for clients are full cycle lending, construction oversight, and foreclosure counseling.
According to Executive Director Linda Chiarenza, WSNHS helps an estimated 50 to 75 people yearly.
If you are a current home owner, or looking to become one and need funding, or for more general information about WSNHS, visit them at www.westsidenhs.org. -- Jeff Buchman
West Side Neighborhood Housing Services provides their patrons with unique classes that aid in the home ownership process. These classes entail the initial steps when purchasing a home to minor in house repairs.
ReplyDeleteOther things that are covered in the classes include financing ones home before the potential buyers make final purchases. This is a vital element in the home buying process and by making note of this is in the classes the significance has more light shed on it.
One important provision that is a part of the content covered in the home buying education classes is the ‘maintaining your home’ portion. This is unique in that Neighborhood Housing Services are with their patron every step of the way, something not even insurance companies are familiar with which makes the organization somewhat of a staple in the West Side community. The organization lists all the content covered in its classes on its website.-- Mario Burks