Your Intermittent News & Updates |
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Onondaga County Announces New 1% Home Improvement Loans for Homeowners |
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Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced last week a new 1% Home Improvement Loan Fund at Home HeadQuarters for eligible homeowners living in Mattydale, and the villages of E. Syracuse and N. Syracuse. The $20,000 loan is available to homeowners for exterior or emergency repairs such as roof replacement, new windows and doors, painting, furnaces, hot water tanks and more. Eligible homeowners must have experienced some COVID impact (loss of job or work hours) and meet household income restrictions. See all the details and download an application HERE!
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HHQ Welcomes Priscilla Sanchez |
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Join us in welcoming Priscilla Sanchez to Home HeadQuarters as Director of Healthy Homes & Community Outreach. As a HHQ HomeOwnership Center graduate and current Westside homeowner, Priscilla brings her wealth of Syracuse knowledge and customer service "A" game to this new position which will put her front and center helping HHQ's customers.
"I'm pretty driven to advocate for people," she says. "I get most of my satisfaction in helping others navigate systems for the best outcomes."
Priscilla joins HHQ most recently from the Syracuse Community Health Center where she was the Senior Healthcare Coordinator and a certified medical interpreter for Spanish-speaking individuals and families. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Priscilla moved to Syracuse when she was only 11 years old along with her sister and father. She's a graduate of Bryant and Stratton and lives in a home constructed by HHQ along with her husband and two boys.
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1000 People Enroll in HHQ HomeBuyer Education this Year |
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You read that right. This year--this crazy, pandemic, up and down year, 1000 people have enrolled in Home HeadQuarters' 8-hour HomeBuyer Education Course--and the year isn't even done! Most of the classes this year have been conducted remotely, allowing for a flexibility in scheduling and no childcare needs (we've had whole families attend the class via their living room sofa)! Currently, HHQ offers a national online version of the class and a "Live and Local" version highlighting local mortgage lenders, realtors, home inspectors and more. Watch for our upcoming classes todo en Español in 2021! Get started on your homeownership journey by signing up for a HomeOwnership Orientation HERE!
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Did you know that the Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center has helped reduce more than $825,000 in debt for Syracuse families? If you haven't yet taken advantage of this free service, it's time to book your first appointment. You can now make an appointment right from the Syracuse FEC Facebook page!
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Know some homeowners in the Buffalo area that could use some home improvement? Thanks to the Erie County Department of Social Services, eligible homeowners in Erie County can now take advantage of a low-interest home improvement loan for health, safety and emergency repairs! Read more about it HERE!
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Interested in commercial office space in a building steeped in positive Syracuse vibes? If the answer is a resounding yes, or even a tame maybe, contact Mary Jo for a tour to learn more information today!
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HHQ Board Member Rasheada Caldwell Wins National Dorothy Richardson Award |
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We just couldn't be prouder of our one-time homeownership customer turned esteemed board member Rasheada Caldwell, who recently learned she is a NeighborWorks America Dorothy Richardson Award winner. Rasheada is one of a small handful of people representing hundreds of organizations across the United States that was chosen for this prestigious community leadership award. If this was like years past, Rasheada would be presented with the award in some far away city in front of almost 1000 people, but plans will be remote for this ceremony probably in April. Stay tuned for a great video highlighting all of Rasheada's great work in our community and how you can get involved.
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Thank YOU For Your Support! |
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HHQ would like to thank everyone who has offered their support of our programs and services this year--even without working up a sweat at the Block Blitz. Thank you, too, to our lending partners who have made sure we can reach and serve more people throughout our great community and to those in our city and county government making sure that we can access those vital housing and community development dollars to keep Syracuse and CNY cooking!
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COVID Emergency-Related Funding Program Support
Bank of America
City of Auburn
City of Syracuse
CNY Community Foundation
CNY COVID-19 Community Support Fund
KeyBank, NA
M&T Bank
NeighborWorks America
Onondaga County
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No Sweat Block Blitz Support
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices CNY
Realty
The Bonadio Group
William Busch
Jan Caster
Christopher Community
Empower Federal Credit Union
Lead Safe, LLC
Bill LeBeau
Greg May
NBT Bank
Tompkins Trust Company
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Mrs. Guins-Clark has Something to Say |
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Eighty year old Julya Guins-Clark lets us know that she has an impending lunch date with "the girls," but is content for now sitting in the sun on her brand new porch. She has a few things she wants to say, nothing that she hasn't already told her neighbors, but she wants to make sure that HHQ staff knows it and that we share it with others.
Mrs. Guins-Clark was having trouble with her front steps at her Southwest neighborhood home. The steps were getting so bad that the senior was forced to negotiate a small staircase at the back of the house forcing her to walk over uneven terrain with her cane. She called Home HeadQuarters and applied for the Urgent Care program--a program made possible with funding through the City of Syracuse that can permanently defer almost half of the cost of a repair provided you remain in your home for a period of time.
"I am just so grateful that Home HeadQuarters can help seniors keep their properties up," says Mrs. Guins-Clark. "I can now sit outside and enjoy my neighborhood on my brand new porch. Thank you to all at HHQ and thank you to Global Construction who did such a great job rebuilding my front porch and steps!
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Sure, we have the usual inspections on houses we've built or substantially rehabbed--city, codes, sometimes state and other funders, but little did you know we also have the Syracuse United Neighbors inspection if the house is located on the city's South and West sides. Our latest rehab on West Kennedy Avenue recently passed SUN Executive Director Rich Puchalski's walk through even though we received a low mark for not having cookies. The home is already sold to a first-time homebuyer who was a long-term, local renter. |
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