In its last fiscal year, agency started in 1996 paid at least $30 million in its community development efforts
By Mary Beth Roach
Few things can be as impactful on a neighborhood and a community as home ownership and many contend that it’s still part of the American Dream.
Home HeadQuarters, a nonprofit housing and community development organization based in Syracuse, has been striving to help eligible first-time homeowners realize that dream for nearly 30 years.
The agency was started in 1996. Its mission “has really been to provide opportunities as they are related to housing or home ownership to residents of Upstate New York,” said Karen Schroeder, chief communications officer for the agency.
Home HeadQuarters has three main areas of focus — one-on-one counseling for first-time homeowners, property development and redevelopment and as a community development financial institution, a designation from the U.S. Treasury, it can loan or lend to eligible individuals, she explained.
Last fiscal year (April 1, 2024 through May 30, 2025), Home HeadQuarters paid out at least $30 million in its community development efforts, Schroeder said, including loans, grants, property development and first mortgage financing and closing costs assistance.
The agency can also provide support with repairs along the way, Schroeder said. At a time when there is a shortage of affordable housing, many of the houses being purchased are in need of repair. In addition, buyers are waiving home inspections in an effort to hurry the process so they don’t lose the house and the housing stock in this area is older, she pointed out.
To assist with those repairs, Home HeadQuarters may be able to provide loans with lower interest rates or a grant component, depending on household income and neighborhood.
The organization, as part of its property development work, is expecting to build 40 new affordable homes this year will grow that impact. A recent example is on Syracuse’s Tipperary Hill, where Home HeadQuarters is building four new homes at the corner of Bryant and Wilbur avenues, as part of the state’s Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program and the Syracuse Resurgent Neighborhood Initiative. The site used to be the location of shop and greenhouse of Davis Florist. But the business closed about 12 years ago, the structures were demolished, other development plans fell through and the large parcel stood vacant for years.
Further building on a sense of neighborhood and community, Home HeadQuarters offers a various commercial loans that can be used for property acquisition, property rehab and preservation, new construction, equipment purchase and working capital, according to its website, www.homehq.org.
The agency also hosts annual Neighborhood Block Blitzes, where volunteers work in a certain area and spruce it up.
This past summer, teams spent a day on Syracuse’s southwest side, painting porches and fences, removing overgrowth and debris and sealing driveways. Students from the Environmental and Interior Design Program at Syracuse University’s VPA | School of Design created a mural on the exterior of the Price Rite store on South Avenue.
Taking that first step toward buying a home or making repairs, finding an appropriate program and keeping track of what assistance is available can be overwhelming. So Schroeder suggested that those interested download an application from the Home HeadQuarters’ website, fill it out and send it in. Then, their representatives will try to find the most suitable option.
“We’re always going to try and figure out the best possible program,” Schroeder said.
Viable housing stock is imperative to making a neighborhood and a community.
When neighbors invest in their homes and new families move into the neighborhood, it underscores the value seen in that particular area.
