When Christina Jacks got a divorce, she had two small children and a mortgage on a home she couldn’t afford and little ability to move forward. Fortunately, she found an apartment for her young family at Hawthorne Place, POAH’s family housing development in Independence, Missouri where she lived for four years rebuilding her life.
When POAH Communities brought the Family Self Sufficiency program to Hawthorne, Christina registered for its employment services, financial coaching and income supports. The FSS program helps build financial assets for families in subsidized housing communities. It does so by capturing increases in earned income, not to go toward higher rent payments, but to an individual escrow savings account. In less than 2 years, Christina saved nearly $9,000 through FSS. Community Services League, the administrator of the program, helped her land a great job at a Raytown-based company that develops school picture orders. With a new career, her life changed; her FSS savings was used to cover the down payment and closing costs on a new home. She now has a spacious backyard with a swing set less than a quarter-mile from the neighborhood school.
Christina was the first Hawthorne FSS graduate to go into homeownership but not the last! Since her home purchase in 2019, three more Hawthorne residents have bought homes.
POAH is CORES certified, recognizing a robust commitment, capacity, and competency in providing resident services in affordable housing communities.