Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership
Healthy Neighborhoods Start with Home Ownership for Families
Michelle Wann was just starting to put her life back together when she heard about the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership (INHP).
“I was 30 years old, and my daughter and I had just moved in with my parents,” remembers Wann, who just a few short months before had been in a drug treatment facility and homeless shelter. “I never thought I would have much of a life. I had no hope.”
Wann’s father urged Wann to call INHP after he saw a story about its work on television. Highly skeptical, she enrolled in INHP’s home ownership classes. “I started learning about mortgages and realtors,” says Wann. “Very slowly I started to think that maybe I could own my own home.”
Working Closely with Families
Created in 1988, INHP harnesses the resources of the private sector, government agencies, community groups and nonprofit organizations to provide home ownership opportunities to low- and moderate-income families. Since 2000, INHP has helped close to 1,000 families move into their own homes for the first time or repair their existing homes. “Too many people are unaware of the mortgage products available to families with challenged credit histories, limited incomes or both,” says Moira Carlstedt, president of INHP. “With INHP, a family may qualify for a loan within two years of beginning pre-purchase counseling. In the future, they will have equity to support their dream to send a child to college. That’s creating family wealth, which leads to generational change.”
The core of INHP’s support for families is its home ownership programs. It is estimated that thousands of people in Marion County rent rather than own despite earning enough to qualify for a mortgage. Families looking to purchase a home begin with INHP’s home ownership training classes and personalized pre-purchase counseling to identify barriers to home ownership, such as judgments or late payments. Pre-purchase counseling, which can last up to two years, culminates in families being matched with INHP lender partners and loan programs that best fit their situation. INHP refers qualified customers to partner banks and mortgage companies, but also manages a multi-bank loan pool of over $21 million in lendable proceeds for clients deemed “unbankable.”
“Many people just don’t know what it takes to buy a home,” remarks Al Smith, board chairman of INHP and president of Bank One of Central Indiana. “We help them understand every aspect of the home-buying process, from mortgages and home inspections to financial management. With that foundation they can become successful home-owners over the long term.”
For Michele Wann it took about six months to repair a history of unpaid credit card bills and bankruptcy. “At the beginning my credit looked pretty bad,” says Wann, who was turned down for the first mortgage she applied for after INHP counseling. “They kept working with me. I’ll never forget the day I received my loan. It was thrilling.” Wann now lives in a two-bedroom condominium with her daughter on Indianapolis’ Northside.
Families Connect to Community Resources
Building on its home ownership programs, INHP also links community resources together to create neighborhoods where families can thrive. Local employers participate in the Home Ownership for Employees Program, which brings in-depth mortgage information to workers employed in the community. To keep their homes in a safe condition, senior citizens and people with disabilities may access INHP’s Home Repair Collaborative, an alliance of INHP and community organizations. On the city’s Southside, INHP works with community development corporations on housing and commercial development efforts that will revitalize Morris Street, one of the neighborhood’s major thoroughfares. “We believe in the power of partnerships,” says Carlstedt. “Connecting people — to resources, to opportunities, to each other — is what really creates family and neighborhood change.”