Rachelle Laguerre
Rachelle Laguerre came to NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester five years ago after hearing of our program from a friend. A single mother with three children, Rachelle had a very low income and lived in public housing. For a long time, Rachelle dreamed of owning a home of her own. She juggled to get child care for her children so that she could attend NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester's home ownership training course.
Upon completing the training course, Rachelle qualified for enrollment in NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester's IDA program, which is a matched savings program that provides $3 for every $1 that Rachelle saves of her own money. The IDA program is funded by Citizens Bank, Providian National Bank, NH Community Development Finance Authority, and Assets for Independence Program Funds, in cooperation with the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund. This program allowed Rachelle to save $2,000 of her own money and receive a $6,000 match for a down payment on a home. Rachelle saved as much as she could each month. She met with a home ownership counselor at NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester, who helped Rachelle develop a plan to clean up her credit and budget her income. It took Rachelle three years to change her financial picture but she never lost sight of owning a home of her own. She kept attending home ownership classes at NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester while she was saving because she knew that home ownership was key to improving her family's future.
Rachelle cleaned up her credit issues and saved $9,000 over a three-year period of time. She was ready to buy a home. Yet she found that finding a home in her price range was pretty close to impossible, as the median sales price of a home in Manchester had increased over 45% since the first time Rachelle walked through our doors. Her income had not kept pace with the tremendous rise in housing cost.
Realizing that a single family home ownership was out of reach and a condominium would not meet her family's needs, Rachelle again turned to NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester for assistance. She enrolled in our Landlord Training workshop and learned that purchasing a two-family home was an affordable option, as she was able to use rental income to offset her monthly mortgage payment. Utilizing her IDA funds, Rachelle received a first-mortgage through one of NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester's lender partners and a second mortgage for down payment and closing cost assistance through NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester's Participation Loan Pool Program.
Rachelle moved into her two-family home on Manchester's East Side this past November. Her three kids have their own bedrooms and a yard to play in. "Owning a home of my own has completely changed my life," says Rachelle. "And NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester has been there to help me the whole way-teaching me and presenting options to help me change my life and improve my family's future."