Program helps family obtain Northland house

There's no place like home, as Brooklynn, Phil and Charlie Hahn discovered Thursday.

The Hahns were handed the keys to their house July 27 on Glenmawr Avenue in the Northland area, as the first family to buy a home through the Huntington Homeownership Alliance.

The three-year, $10 million alliance, launched three months ago, is the result of the bank and Columbus Housing Partnership joining forces to help more than 100 potential homeowners in Central Ohio by providing housing counseling, foreclosure prevention services and affordable mortgages, according to information from the alliance.

"Brooklynn's family lives just five minutes away from here," Amy Klaben, president and CEO of the Columbus Housing Partnership said.



"She grew up in the neighborhood, and is so excited she could buy a house and come back to the neighborhood."

"We've been renting," Mrs. Hahn said. "We were getting a little tired of it and Charlie, (age 1 1/2) was getting bigger."

"This whole process made everything more affordable," she said.

Mrs. Hahn is a professional photographer. Mr. Hahn is a stay-at-home dad. They bought the renovated home for $101,000, according to Franklin County Auditor's office records.

"We look for houses in nice neighborhoods where a foreclosure has had a negative effect," Klaben said.

Through the partnership's Homeport program, properties are rehabilitated to provide quality homes at an affordable price, with fixed-rate mortgages.

Nine more potential homeowners are in the pipeline, Klaben said. "It's renovated and made ready," she said. "When people buy a foreclosed home, they find they need to do a lot of the work," as she noted Charlie playing by his tree, in his front yard, in his orange T-shirt.

"Charlie dressed in his orange T-shirt reminds me of Halloween," she said. "Before this, they lived in an area where they couldn't trick-or-treat."

"This year, Charlie will be able to go trick-or-treating in his own neighborhood."

Charlie's antics were not lost on Columbus City Council President Mike Mentel. "This is his front yard -- he is enjoying this and that is what this program is all about," Mentel said. "I've been proud to be a part of this program."

"It helps rebuild communities and keeps families strong and neighborhoods safe," he said.

"This is a ray of light today, to make sure a family has a home," he said, as he cautioned those gathered on the Hahn's front lawn to not forget there are still many families facing foreclosure.

"We see them every day, under a viaduct, under the railroad tracks, under a tarp," Mentel said. "Who knows were they got their tarp."

"But, that is what they call home," he said.

For more information, call Columbus Housing Partnership at 614-221-8889, ext. 134 or visit online at chpcolumbus.org.

"We look for houses in nice neighborhoods where a foreclosure has had a negative effect."

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Homeownership development program outlook bleak in Millville

MILLVILLE - Due to a lack of capital, the Holly City Development Corporation's homeownership development program that builds and rehabilitates city homes faces an uncertain future, according to a finance report from HDCD Executive Director Paul Dice.
At a meeting on Tuesday, Dice stated the HCDC's CHOICE program has lost its line of credit with Colonial Bank, instead only receiving a hard loan.

That, combined with $156,000 in unpaid accounts receivable for homes the HCDC has already built, means the organization is searching for credit while cutting its development schedule from 10 to 18 homes.
"We don't have liquidity or working capital for the program as it relates to building and rehabilitating homes," said Dice. "We're in an analysis stage right now, and we're going to be discussing how to receive a commercial line of credit once again.
"That's what we need in this case - commercial credit."
A third reason the report gave was that the HCDC's cash reserves were, in part, used to support the Holly City Family Center during its restructuring efforts.
In addition, the Millville Housing Authority's Assisted Living Program recently posted a $13,637 loss for May 2009 amid a new advertising strategy aimed at raising public interest in the plan.
In total, the assisted living program has posted $48,765 in operating losses between Oct. 1, 2008, and May 31, 2009.
In addition to reaching out to local print media, the MHA has pursued an advertising project with Quinn Broadcasting, the lowest bidder in the assisted living programs search for exposure over the airwaves.
Members of the MHA described the program unhappily as the "best kept secret in New Jersey."

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