THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605200204
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
The River City Community Development Corp. wants to turn more low-income families into homeowners.
Many working families that are paying rent could support a mortgage, says River City's president, Lenora Jarvis-Mackey. But a lot of them can't scrape together a down payment.
``You have persons qualified to own a home, who haven't because of the down payment,'' Jarvis-Mackey said this week. ``That is usually where the problem comes in.
``If we can help them in getting the down payment assistance, then they can get in, have and realize the all-American Dream.''
River City, a non-profit agency that targets minority families and communities for economic development, is working to help create 40 new homeowners through its Renaissance subdivision off Walker Avenue.
The housing development, which still exists only on drawings, has passed several technical hurdles with the City Council. River City officials now are working to get the subdivision built, and to find people to fill it.
``What we're really hoping is that we can qualify buyers even before construction starts,'' Jarvis-Mackey said.
The Renaissance subdivision will have 40 houses, which the agency hopes to sell for $60,000 to $70,000, Jarvis-Mackey said. The price will depend on what kind of
financial help River City can secure for interested buyers in down payment grant and loan assistance.
The agency has asked the city and county for cooperation in applying for state and federal money that could help pay for subdivision infrastructure like water, sewer and roads.
Home ownership rates have declined in recent years, especially among young and minority families, according to the North Carolina Low Income Housing Coalition.
``With the cutbacks in affordable housing,'' Jarvis-Mackey said, ``there's a lot of concern about agencies such as ours being able to provide affordable housing.''
The Low Income Housing Coalition hopes to raise awareness about housing needs by convening people from across the state to lobby legislators in Raleigh on May 30.
River City is looking for people to participate on ``Housing Day.''
Jarvis-Mackey also said she hopes to help form a local low-income housing coalition that bands together various agencies trying to turn people into homeowners. Among the other groups that could be involved are Habitat for Humanity, she said.
``We are all serving the same community,'' she said. ``So I think that if we pooled our resources, we could serve more of the community.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
TO LEARN MORE
For more information on the Renaissance subdivision, call the River
City Community Development Corp. at 331-2925. To find out about
Housing Day, call River City, or the North Carolina Low Income
Housing Coalition in Raleigh at (919) 881-0707.
by CNB