Contact:
Dainette Mintz
Urban Affairs Coalition
215-851-1891
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 25, 2018
Employer-Assisted Housing Program provides first matching grant to Temple employee
Urban Affairs Coalition supports home purchase in Philadelphia through signature Employer-Assisted Housing Program, Philadelphia Home.Buy.Now
PHILADELPHIA, PA – One month ago, on Friday, August 24, 2018, the Community and Economic Development (CED) Department of the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC) delivered their first matching grant to Temple employee Tyler Kmiec for the purchase of his new home in North Philadelphia.
UAC/CED received $100,000 in funding from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) through the PHARE Grant Program for their Philadelphia Home.Buy.Now (PHBN) program earlier this year, thanks to support from PHFA Executive Director Brian Hudson. The funds are used to provide matching grants for employees within the Philadelphia Home.Buy.Now Employer Network to purchase homes in the city of Philadelphia. Temple University has been a participating anchor employer within the Philadelphia Home.Buy.Now program since the program’s founding in 2006.
Tyler Kmiec, Research Assistant & Lab Coordinator at Temple University's Spinal Neuromotor Lab, received the maximum grant funding - $4,000 - through PHARE grant funding to match the $5,000 contribution Temple University provides to any employee looking to purchase near their main campus.
"This program was just amazing. We are good savers, but this allowed us to make sure we had a little bit left in our savings so if something breaks down, we feel confident that we can handle it. During the whole [homebuying] process, we just kept that $9,000 number in the back of our heads."
Employers included in the Philadelphia Home.Buy.Now network – including large organizations such as the University of Pennsylvania, as well as neighborhood employers like Tommy D’s Home Improvement in Philadelphia’s Nicetown neighborhood - can open the door to assist their employees in purchasing homes close to their work. Low- and moderate-income employees looking to purchase a home will receive financial assistance from their employer in the network – minimum of $500 as a grant or forgivable loan - which will make them eligible for a dollar-for-dollar matching grant up to $4,000 through PHBN - providing an employee more funds to bring to the closing table.
Philadelphia Home.Buy.Now has been a key program of the CED Department of the Urban Affairs Coalition since 2005.
Key successes:
- 414 participants have received $1.3 million in PHBN grants, leveraging $4.5 million in employer funds, resulting in over $84 million in home sales in Philadelphia.
- The projected property tax collected by the City of Philadelphia on PHBN grant purchased houses is estimated at $892,032 per year (and counting). This, in conjunction with the average transfer tax revenue received per house can either cover or exceeded the amount of financial support provided to the program.
- 91% of the PHBN houses are still owned by the PHBN grant recipients.
- 50% of the HBN grants recipients are people of color, those hardest hit by the 2008 collapse of the economy and housing market.
- 30% of the HBN recipients would not have been able to purchase a home without PHBN.
- PHBN grant recipients save on average $2400
a year in commuter costs.
The Urban Affairs Coalition’s Department of Community and Economic Development is committed to helping Philadelphians achieve their dreams of homeownership. Employer-assisted housing programs have effectively demonstrated an increase in home purchase opportunities among low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
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About the CED Committee
The Community and Economic Development Committee of the Urban Affairs Coalition is a 65 member working group that represents government, banks, non-profit organizations, and community development professionals. These organizations work together to bring capital, financial education, and other resources to local communities to ensure the stability, growth, and vitality of the region.
About the Urban Affairs Coalition
The Urban Affairs Coalition unites government, business, neighborhoods, and individual initiative to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve emerging issues. Please visit www.uac.org for more information.