A one or two bedroom apartment in a
building filled with other poor folks OR owning your own nice three or four
bedroom home? Which would YOU and most folks chose? Which would be more
likely to break a cycle of poverty and crime? Ask yourself, which would be
better for your own family, and I will bet you have the answer for poor
families too.
I agree that home ownership does help a family succeed. It gives them stability and incentive to be more involved in the community. But, we need to be careful about how we do this, lest most of the money be wasted.
On the White Earth reservation in western Minnesota, there were two programs started in the late 1970's to help upgrade the housing of tribal members. One program simply built houses and gave them to members. The other created a low-interest revolving loan fund that allowed members to get mortgages well below the market rates.
Which program worked better? All you have to do is drive around the reservation and and you can spot the two different types of houses. Those houses which were gifted are almost universally run down or are boarded up. This was true within 10 years of the house being built.
On the other hand, those houses built or bought under the mortgage program are in good shape, well-maintained and in good repair.
Jimmy Carter works with Habitat for Humanity, and they don't just swoop down and pick potential homeowners at random. They are carefully screened and chosen on the likelihood of their ability to keep up the home and make the payments.
Help people get into a home they own, yes. But we need to be sure that they are ready and motivated to succed in home ownership.
--M. G. Stinnett
Jordan
