Leading Edge Resources: A Home of My Own Since housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, participants are able to find their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses and apartments. The participant is free to choose any housing that meets the requirements of the program and is not limited to units located in subsidized housing projects. The program includes a homeownership voucher for those who want to purchase their first home and need assistance with the mortgage and/or other homeownership expenses. Not every local PHAs participates in the program, but every state has experience with it, and at last report, over 4,000 homes were purchased through the program. (http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/homeownership/index.cfm) Fannie Mae is a Congressionally chartered, shareholder-owned company, and the nation’s largest source of mortgage funds. Fannie Mae has committed to provide one trillion dollars in targeted lending for 10 million homes by the end of the decade. It has adapted its standard mortgage products to make them more useful for people with disabilities. In 1993, Fannie Mae also developed the Community HomeChoice program. It falls under the MyCommunityMortage program and is designed to serve low-to-moderate income borrowers with a disability or who have a family member with a disability. Community HomeChoice loans also are available for refinancing transactions, and can be combined with Fannie Mae HomeStyleRenovation loans for homes needing rehabilitation, and or access modification.  Property type may include a 2-unit, single-family property. (http://www.fanniemae.com/housingcommdev/solutions/loansdisabilities.jhtml -- BAD LINK An Individual Development Account, also known as an “IDA”, is a savings account for low-income workers that can be used for small-business development, higher education or the purchase of a first home. Each time you make a deposit, the IDA program contributes an additional deposit called a match. IDA programs can have a match one, two or three times the size of each deposit you make. For example, if you receive a 2:1 match, each time you deposit $25, you will get an additional $50 toward your savings goal. http://idanetwork.cfed.org/index.php?section=home&page=home.html 7