Community October 01, 2008
A Single Mom Finds a Place to Call Home
Kelly Rountree had a lot to be thankful for last Thanksgiving. She fried a turkey for about 40 friends and relatives, and smiled with pride as she watched her two children, Latrell and Kayla, run in the backyard with the younger guests. It was Rountree’s first holiday in her new house, where she paints the walls any color she likes and doesn’t worry about noise levels and the other tenants.
Rountree, an administrative assistant for occupational health services at YNHH, was a single mother when she signed up for the H.O.M.E. (Home Ownership Made Easier) program, which helped 32 YNHH employees purchase 30 homes last year.
Working in partnership with NewAlliance Bank, YNHH launched the program to offer eligible employees up to $10,000 toward the down payment and closing costs on their first home, as long as they purchase in New Haven, and stay in the house and remain an employee for five years. Those who buy in one of the four neighborhoods adjacent to the hospital – the Hill, Dwight, West River and City Point – are eligible for an additional monthly mortgage subsidy for the first two years of their ownership. Hill Development Corporation and Neighborhood Housing Services help employees navigate their way through the buying process.
Roundtree has been in her new home just a year, and has been delighted with her son’s experience at Wexler Grant Elementary School, where her daughter is also starting kindergarten.
“The best thing about the program is that even a single mother can buy a house,” said
Rountree, “If I hadn’t had this support, I don’t know if I would be living here now,” she said.
Article originally appeared in the fall 2008 issue of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Magazine (Page 22)
http://www.ynhh.org/online/magazines/fall08mag.pdf
