Colorado Sun: Tatiana Flowers. Photo courtesy of the Tatiana Flowers and the Colorado Sun
Ninety-three percent of Black families that have the credit score and income to qualify for a home loan do not move on to purchase a home because they lack the cash needed for their down payment, according to a Colorado nonprofit working to reverse that trend.
Gary Community Ventures is offering up to $40,000 in down payment assistance to at least 500 Black families in metro Denver, over the next 10 years, through its new Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth. The new program will operate with help from FirstBank and Elevations Credit Union, the first lenders that have signed up to offer the Dearfield Fund to their own mortgage clients.
The funding helped close the gap for Shamae and LeVar Williams, who were scrambling to buy a home after their landlord decided not to renew the lease on their three-bedroom rental in Thornton.