PHA Hosts a Homeownership Info Session to Help PHA Residents Move from Renting to Owning
MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EVENT DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Contacts: Nichole Tillman [email protected]; 215-888-2869
The Agency’s Homeownership Program Ranks Among the Best
PHA Hosts a Homeownership Info Session to Help PHA Residents Move from Renting to Owning
WHAT: As it celebrates national homeownership month, PHA will host a homeownership info session for residents interested in learning how to buy their PHA scattered site houses or find and purchase their dream homes across the city. Through the PHA Opening Doors to Homeownership Opportunities Program, PHA assisted-residents are supported as they work to meet homeownership qualifications by setting and accomplishing major financial and personal self-sufficiency goals. The financial literacy and homeownership counseling workshops provided help families learn skills they need during the homeownership journey. Residents who advance and can meet the homeownership requirements are eligible to receive mortgage and down payment assistance through a number of private and public grant programs and through PhillySEEDS, PHA’s non-profit arm. More than 700 PHA tenants and voucher holders have purchased homes since the program began 11 years ago – making it one of the top homeownership programs offered by a U.S. housing authority.
WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11 AM Tuesday, June 18, 2024
WHERE: Multipurpose room, Vaux Community Building at 24th and Master Streets
DETAILS: Les Brown, a mother of five who had lived in public housing for much of her adult life, will be available for media interviews. Les purchased a house through PHA’s homeownership program as a Mother’s Day gift to herself in 2023. To key to her success? “You have to give up the things you want but don’t really need,” she says. “With PHA’s help, you can do it. It’s possible.”
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WHAT: Philly’s weeklong Juneteenth Celebration, PHA residents and Housing Choice Voucher tenants who own their own businesses will have a chance to sell their wares and grow their own businesses at an outdoor market. In addition to these diverse vendors, festivities include a Double-Dutch competition, a free intro to Mosaic workshop, a free CPR class, music and fun! Of all the racial groups surveyed in a recent report by Babson College, Black Americans had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity (35%), followed by Hispanic people (27%). Despite this strong interest, both groups remain less likely to run established businesses than white entrepreneurs. To address this issue, PHA began offering regular entrepreneurship workshops and a six-month fellowship as a way to support these home-based micro-businesses. Since then, more than 50 business owners have completed the comprehensive Fellowship program covering the full range of business fundamentals. PHA Fellows receive: up to a $3,000 small business grant; up to $2,000 worth of books, licenses and certification for their business, and an opportunity to receive free office space and services in Resident Advisory Board’s resident Incubator.
WHEN: The best media opportunities will be available from noon to 11:30 to 1:30 PM Monday, June 17, 2024.
What: The Philadelphia Housing Authority will host a dynamic celebration honoring fathers and their invaluable role in our communities. Father’s Hoop Day promises an exhilarating day filled with basketball festivities, delicious food, and memorable moments. This event, hosted by Buck Wild, is a tribute to the strength, dedication, and love of fathers everywhere.
