- This house cost $3,500. (cash register clangs)
This one, $6,100. (cash register clangs)
And this one, $2,000. (cash register clangs)
But why are they so cheap?
- It needs full roof, it needs kitchen, bathroom,
plumbing, electrical, foundation
and mold remediation.
- Oh. That's why.
In this episode of Catalysts, we'll meet Acts Housing,
an innovative, non-profit helping low income families
achieve their dreams of home ownership.
- We believe that home ownership is possible
for anyone that's willing to work for it.
- Building on their success of helping thousands
become homeowners in Milwaukee, they're trying to see
if their model will work in other cities. (crowd cheering)
And that $6,100 home,
it was just purchased by Christina Patterson,
and she's their first homeowner in Beloit, Wisconsin.
- From homelessness to home ownership,
that's my story.
(eerie music)
(birds chirping)
- Today Christina gets to share her vision of the home
with the entire Acts Housing team.
- And most of the team, you haven't met most of us.
They don't know much about your story,
so if you want to just share for a minute if you're willing,
we'd love that.
- Anybody got a tissue? (people laughing)
I promise I won't cry this time.
So in 2011 I had brain surgery and wasn't able to work,
so as a result, my family and I became homeless. (cries)
(sad music)
We were homeless.
We didn't have anywhere to go. (sniffles)
And look at me. (cries)
This is my house. (people cheering)
(soft music)
- When I couldn't even put a roof over my kids' heads,
that was probably the lowest part of my life,
cause I think as a parent, everybody wants that,
a home for their kids to grow up in. (sniffles)
(soft music)
- Who are the photos?
- This is my grandma and grandpa,
and these are my mother.
- Oh wow.
- My grandma would have been very proud to see this.
- Christina is inspiring,
and we're privileged that we get to work with her.
We have a really strong conviction at Acts.
Families are capable of just tremendous things.
If we can just tap into it and give them an opportunity,
they can be successful.
(soft music)
The housing system is broken,
even more so for the families we're working with.
Most solutions, they're top down solutions,
they don't deal with people.
They think, if we just build enough
that's gonna fix things.
But they don't necessarily solve the problem
because that doesn't help families provide for themselves.
And what we're doing at Acts
is we're starting from the bottom up.
We start with a family.
- Finally we're gonna be with you
through the entire process.
- Their model is unique because they're able
to come alongside families and provide every single service
they would need to become successful homeowners.
- We're a one stop shop for home ownership.
We can help a family prepare for home ownership
through our home buyer counseling,
purchase a home,
and then if the home requires rehab,
we'll coach a family through the rehab,
providing rehab counseling services,
and also finance some of those transactions
providing our home loan funds.
- What's the total scope?
Like how much are you investing?
- There's my total.
- $44,726.
It's a big investment.
- Yep.
Buying a home is scary.
It is a big decision,
and to have someone show you how that works,
I don't know how to explain that,
other than amazing.
(upbeat music)
- After experiencing homelessness,
Christina's credit was in bad shape.
That was one of the biggest barriers
Acts needed to help her overcome.
- Maria, she went through my credit report
and explained to me the things that
I needed to do to fix it.
- Once Christina had elevated her credit,
it was time to move on to the next phase, house hunting.
Acts helps families choose the homes
that are right for their situation.
- Sometimes that's a move-in ready home
that's available on the market,
other times that's a foreclosed home.
- Families invest their own money and take out loans
for the home purchase and rehab.
Christina purchased a foreclosed home
that needed a lot of work before
she and her family could safely move in.
- While there's a lot of work
that goes into rehabbing a distressed home,
families are saving upwards of $3600 a year.
Those savings are huge in terms of making sure
there's better food in the fridge,
but also so that they have a little bit
of an emergency fund, so when life deals them challenges,
they're able to overcome it.
When they take on this distressed home,
oftentimes it's been attracting crime, attracting nuisance,
and all of a sudden, our family comes in,
and they're investing in it, and they care about it.
That sort of care, it's contagious.
And so it can be a real game changer in these neighborhoods.
- So when Acts was founded 24 years ago,
it was a dream that some day, not only would we
help families in Milwaukee,
but we could share it with another community.
Having that be a reality,
it makes this a really special day.
So with that (cuts ribbon)
(crowd cheering)
And better than that,
we have a tradition at Acts,
which is that, when a homeowner completes the long process
of preparing themself for home ownership, purchasing a home,
we have a ceremony where we actually
have them ring the doorbell. (doorbell rings)
(crowd laughs and cheers)
(inspiring music)
- We absolutely think our model
is one that can be successful
in literally hundreds of cities throughout the country.
When we prove that that works,
I think it changes the narrative
about what's possible in our country's cities,
These families,
Though they didn't seek out home ownership
because it was gonna improve their self-esteem
or it was gonna give them more confidence,
I think that's very frequently the result.
They're standing a little bit taller.
(inspiring music)
- I don't like to be told what I can and cannot do.
You know what I mean?
So I set out to prove that I can do this.
I absolutely feel like I can do a lot of things
I didn't know I could do.
I don't know how to do that, but I'm gonna learn today.
This is a goal that I've had for years,
and I finally did it.
My kids are happy.
My life is just complete now.
This is me.
This is my house.
This is my counter.
This is my door.
It's my house.
(inspiring music)
- Thanks for watching.
Acts Housing's innovative model is empowering families
through home ownership.
Subscribe to Freethink for more stories
of inspiring leaders who are catalysts for change
in their communities.