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Trust fund approves $3,000-per-home match for Habitat down payments
Summary
The Evansville City Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee approved a $3,000-per-home down-payment match for Habitat homebuyers, funding 20 homes this year if numbers hold.
The Evansville City Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee on Aug. 12 approved a request from Hope of Evansville to increase down-payment assistance for Habitat for Humanity homebuyers to $3,000 per household.
The request, presented by Nikki Waller, director of relational and financial development for Hope of Evansville, seeks a 2-to-1 match on homeowner savings. “Basically I handle the money and I tell the stories,” Waller said while describing the program. She told the committee the request is based on Habitat homebuyers being required to save $1,500 and the trust fund matching that on a 2-to-1 basis, which results in $3,000 per household.
The committee’s approval covers assistance for up to 20 Habitat homes this funding cycle, the number Waller said the local program typically handles in a year. At that level, the approved amount for this program would total approximately $60,000. Committee members noted the trust fund’s current available balance — after earlier approvals and a $60,000 item received after the published financial report — was roughly $228,249.
Waller said the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program historically covered some down-payment assistance but that HOME no longer funds down-payment assistance locally; CDBG still covers down-payment aid for market-rate buyers at a different scale, she said. She also told the committee that Habitat built about 24 homes the prior year and may aim for as many as 32 this year, which could prompt an additional request if demand exceeds this award.
The committee voted to approve the request. No formal amendment to the proposal was recorded during discussion.
Looking ahead, Waller said Hope would return to the committee only if it exhausts the approved funds and needs further support later in the year.
Votes at a glance: the committee approved the down-payment assistance request; the meeting transcript records the final vote as “approved” but does not list a named mover or second for that specific motion.
Ending: The approved award will be administered through Hope of Evansville to support Habitat for Humanity homebuyers under the terms described by Hope and reported to the committee.
