From the Dorchester Reporter:
When Codman Square’s Gisselle Jimenez heard about the One Plus Boston mortgage, which helps public housing or Section 8 voucher holders achieve homeownership with up to $75,000 in assistance, she thought it sounded too good to be true.
But the path she embarked upon with the city and Boston Housing Authority’s (BHA) newest program has led her and her two boys, Isael and Elias, to a home of their own in Hyde Park – a home they closed on in a public ceremony Wednesday afternoon in the Codman Square offices of Thumbprint Realty.
Jimenez, who had a private apartment near Codman Square with a Section 8 voucher, traded in her voucher for the new mortgage program this month, after having started down that path earlier with the BHA’s Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) financial literacy program. That dual formula has equaled a generational change for her and her boys.
“You see how rent is in Boston, it is very expensive,” she said. “Sometimes you feel discouraged and feel you’ll stay in the same bracket all your life. This program gave me the opportunity not only for me, but also for my kids. This is for their generation and an open door…It’s so important people know they don’t have to make a certain amount to get to this place. This was my dream and I’m a single mother coming from a single mother.”
Read the Dorchester Reporter's article "Boston mortgage initiative helps public housing residents achieve homeownership," featuring the Boston Housing Authority.