Pictured Left to Right: Chris Donai, Donai Construction; Ken Kinsey, TKTD Construction; Kerry Quaglia, Home HeadQuarters, Lowell Niemetz, Home HeadQuarters; Rasheada Caldwell, Syracuse Common Council; Mayor Ben Walsh, City of Syracuse; Brian DuMond, Geddes Federal Savings & Loan; Tracy DiGenova; Office of the Governor, New York State; Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, City of Syracuse; Katelyn Wright, Great Syracuse Land Bank.

HHQ, with a host of community partners, broke ground recently on six new single-family homes as part of Mayor Walsh's Resurgent Neighborhoods Initiative (RNI) and as one of the first projects approved by New York State as part of the Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program (AHOP). All six homes are being built by NYS-certified Minority Owned Business Enterprises and will be available for purchase to income-eligible, first-time homebuyers. Many of the formerly vacant and derelict properties developed by Home HeadQuarters were purchased from the Greater Syracuse Land Bank. Home HeadQuarters expects to develop 40 properties in and around Syracuse with this round of AHOP and RNI.

Interested in getting into HHQ's first-time homebuyer pipeline? Start by signing up for a free HomeOwnership Orientation and the 8-Hour HomeBuyer Education Course, including a one-on-one with a HUD-certified Housing Counselor, on our website or by emailing info@homehq.org!

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens and a host of friends recently helped Home HeadQuarters celebrate a Community Open House and Sneak Peek of ONAJAVA--a long-desired neighborhood coffee house on Syracuse's Southside. ONAJAVA owner/operator Reggie Pickard and family hope that the cozy and welcoming space at 1555 S. Salina (at the corners of South Salina and East Kennedy Streets) grows into a place where people can be themselves, comfortably, safely and inspirationally.

The ONAJAVA Coffee House project, with Home HeadQuarters developing the 1600 sq. ft. mixed-use historic property that includes two 3-bedroom affordable apartments on the second level, was made possible with support from the City of Syracuse, NYS Empire State Development and the Allyn Family Foundation. The property sits at the entryway to a neighborhood long targeted by Home HeadQuarters with more than $60.4 million in loans and grants provided to families and 117 properties constructed or redeveloped. Home HeadQuarters is planning to build an additional 21 new single-family homes in this targeted neighborhood this year as part of the NYS Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program (AHOP) and Mayor Ben Walsh’s Resurgent Neighborhoods Initiative (RNI).

ONAJAVA is now open for breakfast, lunch, coffee and desserts and is booking artists, poets, photographers, musicians and more. Want to learn more? Visit ONAJAVA on Facebook at @Ona Java or Instagram at @ONAJAVA1555.

Pictured from Left: Marty Nave, Syracuse Common Council; Patrona Jones Rowser, Syracuse Common Council; Jennifer Wagner, OnaJava; Kerry Quaglia, Home HeadQuarters; Reggie Pickard, OnaJava; Rasheada Caldwell, Syracuse Common Councilor.

HHQ's Resilient Retrofits Gets a Round II

Home HeadQuarters has been awarded $12 million from NYS Homes & Community Renewal for a second round of the successful state-wide Resilient Retrofits Program. There was $20 million allocated to the program in the state budget. The program provides income-eligible homeowners with a 50/50 Loan/Grant of up to $50,000 to address resiliency measures to fortify the home against future flood and rain damage. For more information and an application, visit our website.

Syracuse Model Neighborhood Corp. or SMNC as it's better known, has recently moved on down the road. For all SMNC inquiries:

SMNC

1939 S. Salina Street

Syracuse, NY 13205

(315) 475-8437

Thank you to Anthony Marrone of the Marrone Law Firm to eating his way to a HHQ donation at Festa Italiana's Meatball Eating Contest last month. We couldn't think of a better way to make a donation!

Thank you also to Pat Strodel of Lead Safe LLC for making a donation to Home HeadQuarters because he was missing Block Blitz this year!

Thanks to a grant from NeighborWorks ® America, HHQ affiliate Opportunity HeadQuarters will soon have crew members trained to install heat pumps and solar panels! As HHQ works to incorporate green energy innovations into its real estate development projects, the demand for contractors trained for these types of technologies is outpacing the supply. Having crew members on staff that can tackle green energy projects will allow HHQ to finish housing projects quicker and expand local capacity to be more green! Thanks NeighborhWorks!

Home HeadQuarters is looking for a Grant & Data Specialist! If being part of the grants, contracts management and compliance department focusing on things like grant writing, program development, program implementation, data management, contract monitoring and reporting sound like fun, visit our Employment page found here.

Home HeadQuarters is also seeking a Case Manager in its Lending Department. If managing case files accurately and effectively for home improvement and first mortgage lending activities with a focus on achieving excellent customer service rocks your world, visit our Employment page found here.

Make a Free & Confidential Financial Counseling Appointment Today!

Scan the QR Code or call (315) 474-1939 or visit www.syracusefec.org

"I'm Excited, Overwhelmed, I'm Everything!"

Certified Home Health Aide/CNA Shawanda Rhodes couldn't quite catch her breath. Every time she signed a new page of Home HeadQuarters' purchase contract to buy the home she had been renting since 2015, she laughed, clapped her hands and shook her head. "This has to be God," she said. "I'm excited, overwhelmed, I'm everything!" Shawanda always joked that she felt like the landlord of the 2-family house she rented and now those words were coming true. "Me and my son--we're actually going to be landlords!"