August 18, 2005
MAMMOTH RECEIVES $1.5 MILLION TO HELP THE LOCAL WORKFORCE PURCHASE HOMES:
The Town of Mammoth Lakes, in conjunction with Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc., received $1.5 million to support working households with down payment assistance for purchasing a home or condominium. This is the first award the region has received from the California Housing Finance Agency (Cal HFA), and Mammoth is one of only eight communities throughout California to receive the funds. “We are thrilled with the ability to help working people realize the dream of homeownership!” exclaimed Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc. Executive Director L. Andrea Clark.
These funds will be combined with the recent grant award from the Community Development Block Grant program, in which a total of $1.4 million were awarded to Mono County and the Town of Mammoth Lakes to support Homebuyer Assistance activities, including down payment assistance. The funds provide the ability to offset the cost of homeownership through “silent second” mortgages. The details of program implementation are currently being developed by Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc., and the organization expects to have the capacity to lend the funds to local residents by early 2006. “Once the program infrastructure is in place, we will advertise the homebuyer assistance program, host educational workshops, and help move Mono County’s workforce into homes!” explains Clark.
In explaining the basic nuts and bolts of the program Clark states, “The money will be used to help working households purchase deed-restricted or market-rate homes by providing down payment or other mortgage assistance, which helps people lower mortgage payments and subsequently allow people to buy homes they couldn’t otherwise afford.”
This funding award is the most recent award Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc. has brought to the region for housing. Since July 2003, the organization has procured over $14 million through nearly a dozen funding applications for state and federal funds, an average of more than $.5 million a month. “All of these funds allow us to move forward with over $47 million in development projects, and housing loan programs that will provide housing for over 250 working households by the close of 2006,” Clark concludes.
