Community group seeks to foster home ownership

Verneda Glass' brick house is old and small. A few pieces of furniture crowd her cramped living room.

But the 60-year-old Glass couldn't be happier with her home on Cape Girardeau's south side because she owns it.

"I just wanted to have my own house," said Glass, who moved into the home at 912 Linden St. last August shortly after suffering a stroke. She lives in the two-bedroom, brick house with her 39-year-old son.

J.J. Williamson, a local insurance broker and minority businessman, helped her get a bank loan. He hopes to help others become first-time homeowners through a new non-profit corporation called Consolidated Community Services Group Inc.

Glass worked in the kitchen at Southeast Missouri Hospital for 24 years before a stroke forced her to retire. But poor health didn't stop her from pursuing her dream.

She found it in a hardscrabble area of Cape Girardeau many would-be homeowners would ignore.

Glass said she always wanted a brick house. "It's solid," she said. "I never looked at any other house but this house."

Help with down payment

Williamson, through the new non-profit corporation he and others have established, gave her $400 toward the $3,200 down payment for the house on Linden and counseled Glass on everything from homeowners' insurance to credit reports.

Glass, who had to scrape to save enough money for the down payment, appreciated the financial help and the advice.

"I never signed so many papers in my life," she said of the purchase.

Buying a home can be intimidating to people, Williamson said. Many renters haven't learned about budgeting, he said. They don't know how to get a bank loan or maintain a house.

"A lot of them are afraid to tackle the problem," he said.

Williamson wants to change that. He believes the way to improve deteriorating neighborhoods in Cape Girardeau and other Bootheel communities is to encourage home ownership.

He and several other Bootheel residents formed Consolidated Community Services Group Inc. last May. The goal is to provide housing education and counseling to help low-income people realize what Williamson calls "the American dream" of home ownership.

Williamson currently serves as executive director and operates the corporation out of his insurance office at 334 N. Frederick St. in Cape Girardeau. He and a handful of others involved in the project are currently footing the bill.

But the group hopes to secure federal Housing and Urban Development funding for the project.

If that happens, Consolidated Community Services Group routinely will help with down payments and closing costs for individuals who complete its free courses, Williamson said.

Classes in March

CCSG wants to foster home ownership in an eight-county area. The target area includes Cape Girardeau, Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and Stoddard counties.

Williamson said CCSG plans to begin offering classes in March at the former Washington Elementary School in Cape Girardeau.

There are four initial courses covering everything from budgeting to credit reports, home buying to house maintenance. There's even a class planned on lawn maintenance.

Williamson, a former Cape Girardeau councilman, said lawn maintenance isn't a luxury. A well-maintained lawn makes a good impression, he said. "It gives your whole neighborhood a better look."

There's little point in pouring state and federal money into housing rehabilitation projects if the first-time homeowners aren't educated about home maintenance and taught how to budget so they can pay their bills, he said.

Without such education, rehabilitated houses quickly become run down again, he said.

Cape Girardeau city officials like the new venture.

The city hopes to secure grant money to contract with Williamson's firm to counsel low-income homeowners whose houses have been fixed up under government-funded neighborhood assistance programs.

Steve Williams, housing assistance coordinator for the city of Cape Girardeau, believes the educational effort should boost home ownership.

"The idea is great," said Williams.

There's a need for such education, he said. "If you have been a renter all your life, you never have had to do any maintenance because someone did it for you."

Home ownership could help revitalize rundown areas of Cape Girardeau, Williams said. Over half of the houses in those neighborhoods currently are rental properties, he said.

Williams said the non-profit venture could work in other Southeast Missouri cities too.

"The end result would be better communities," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123