Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix

Our Mission: To make stable homes and communities possible through educating, building and lending.

Our Vision: An Arizona where everyone has a place to call HOME

 

Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix is dedicated to helping families with all of their homeownership needs, but we need your help!

Below is the story of one of our successes, check it out and then consider a donation to help us continue to provide the services so many people desperately need. 

The Family

In 2008 Gilbert and Melissa Baldenegro and their two children were living in a lovely home in the North Valley. The children attended the local elementary school; Melissa was a stay at home mom who volunteered regularly; and Gabriel worked in construction.  In August 2008 the subprime, housing market hit the peak of its crisis. Because they were renting at the time, they believed they would not be affected by the turbulence going on in Arizona and throughout the country. 

The Tipping Point

Later that month, however, they were surprised by the news that their landlord had lost his own home to foreclosure and would need to move right away into their 3 bedroom rental.  With days to make arrangements, pack their home and find a place to live that would keep them in the area, so as to not completely uproot their family, they found the only thing they could afford:  A 500 square foot one-bedroom apartment. 

The Scam

The next year, in an effort to escape being at the mercy of a landlord, the Baldenegro family started looking into purchasing their own home.  After doing some research they decided that the first thing they should do was bring up their credit score.  They hired an agency and paid them $100 every month for 9 months to address these issues. At the end of the 9 months the company had done little to help fix their credit and they chose to cancel the service.

Cause for Hope

One day, Melissa found an article in the Arizona Republic that had a brief paragraph about an event downtown for low-income, first time home buyers. She made sure that she and Gilbert could attend.  While there, they listened to several agencies (one of which was Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix) discuss the options they offered and were given literature and the paperwork to contact them to determine who would be the best fit for each individual family.  “In that room you could sense the urgency and hope from all who attended,” said Melissa.

Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix was the second place the Baldenegro’s emailed, but the first place with an appointment opening. 

“From the minute I emailed and then spoke to that first person at NHS Phoenix, we were invited to ‘come in, let us help you’ and given a list of 4 things to bring to the appointment,” said Melissa.  “That FIRST meeting was with a pre-purchase housing counselor on March 8th, 2011.  We were given 2 tasks to accomplish at the end of the meeting and told once they were completed, NHS could definitely help us.”  Three months later they returned with their completed paperwork, the information was verified and their case was forwarded to a mortgage loan originator to start the approval process for a loan.

Success!

 

On November 21st the Baldenegro family got the fantastic news that they have been approved for a loan and that they should start looking for a home. “Only 8 months after starting the process we were given the best and most amazing Christmas gift,” said Melissa.

 

It’s been another 10 months since they moved into their home and they couldn’t be happier.  “I put my kids to sleep, depending on the weather, in a warm or cool house.  We are free of scary neighbors, bugs or ever-changing landlords, I can cook in my own kitchen with all my gadgets, we sit outside, front or back and enjoy the air on our bodies as we listen to the crickets, feel the wind and enjoy the absolute peace,” said Melissa. “My husband works on our lawn as any proud homeowner and researches how to get the greenest grass.  We get up and go to work, school, church, the store, wherever, leading our life and always at every last turn there is our home to great us.  We are together and comfortable and so incredibly blessed to finally be here.”