Owning a home opens up a world of opportunities. A home is an asset that helps families finance education or a business. A home could be the reason you learn how to use a power drill, or the reason you start your first garden. Homeownership helps people become more financially literate all while connecting with their community in ways they may have never connected before.
Now that another Homeownership Month has come and gone, I would like to reflect on the strides the Obama Administration has made toward truly accessible rural homeownership for all. Since 2009 USDA Rural Development has made investments in affordable homeownership opportunities in 3,200 U.S. counties. These investments have benefitted more than 1 million people across the country.
Our Mutual Self-Help Grant Program has sponsored thousands of families and non-profit organizations in their quest to construct more than 900 communities across the nation. We’ve also invested $11.2 million in families and individuals who want to stay in their homes- and their communities- but needed help making essential repairs and improvements to their homes.
We couldn’t have done this on our own. We’ve worked with members of the Federal Family, non-profit and community organizations, and homeowners across the nation to reach as far and as deep as we could into rural America to find folks who needed us and needed our opportunities to move into the middle class, or simply preserve their family home.
With home builders, realtors, lenders, non-profits, community organizations, faith-based charities, and rural town leadership, USDA has helped many Americans change their lives. Thank you for celebrating Homeownership Month with us this year. We are so lucky to be Building Communities Together with so many organizations and people.