South Dakota officially began homeownership month with several events in Sisseton. As SDPB’s Kathleen Serie reports USDA housing programs assist many families across the state.
In Fiscal-Year 2012, USDA’s Rural Development Department made 105 home loans to low-income borrowers in South Dakota. Rural development also guaranteed the mortgages on nearly 1300 homes sold or refinanced across the state.
Tammye Trevino, Housing and Community Facilities Administrator at the USDA, attended the events in Sisseton which included the recognition of a home loan recipient. The USDA StrikeForce program held a round table as well. The StrikeForce initiative looks to aid communities that have faced consistent poverty for the past 30 years.
Trevino says home ownership is very important to the prosperity of urban communities.
“The economy is supported in many many ways but in rural America one sure support is the construction of homes- the rehabilitation of homes- and the turnover in home ownership. This is a sure way to create jobs and to create wealth. When someone goes from renting to owning they’re all of a sudden contributing not just to sales tax in the area but property taxes,” says Trevino.
Trevino says in the long run homeownership contributes to the health and vitality of communities.