UNA, Springfield schools help teachers buy homes

The Teacher on the Block program – a version of Freddie Mac’s Workforce Home Benefit initiative – will provide services to teachers who work at center-city Title 1 schools. If homeownership near schools increases, the schools improve, according to UNA Executive Director Bob Horton.

“What we do today in these revitalization efforts can shape the future of our children and the places they live,” he said in a news release.

Services available to teachers will include home-buyer education, pre-qualification assistance, financial and debt management counseling, flexible mortgage products, access to public agency subsidies, post-purchase counseling and delinquency intervention assistance.

Empire Bank and Great Southern Bank also are participating as referral partners for mortgage programs as a way to help teachers access mortgage products and services that meet their needs.

To facilitate home-buyer education, UNA will work with Consumer Credit Counseling Services to conduct classes about credit and money management and credit history.