Home ownership program helps neighborhoods

Before Saturday, Ina Ferrier, 65, had no idea how she would be able to pay her mortgage.

Her pension had been cut in half, making it harder for her to make the $1,200 payments on her fixed income.

But thanks to a community-wide program organized by Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow, Ferrier now has a monthly mortgage payment that she can handle.

“I am just happy,” she said. “I went in there wanting to get the problem resolved and could not have asked for a better outcome.”

The two-part home ownership event was put on by Winslow in partnership with Wells Fargo, the Atlanta Development Authority, and Housing and Urban Development with the help of federal dollars earmarked for community development.

“The idea was to help get people into the community, while at the same time help those already living in the area keep their homes," Jeanie Goldie said. Goldie serves as Wells Fargo’s regional diverse segments manager for the state of Georgia.

For those looking to purchase a home, a home ownership panel and educational session was held for three hours at city hall. Following the session, potential home buyers were taken on a bus tour of the West End.

Winslow said there are some hidden jewels in the neighborhoods she represents.

"Now is the best time to buy," she said. "But we have to do a better job of marketing ourselves."

People got a chance to really see what it is like to live in the community, Goldie said. The tour started in Summerhill and took prospective buyers through Adair Park, Westview, Washington Park and Mechanicsville.

Representatives from the respective neighborhoods came out to participate in the tour, talking with prospective buyers about what it is like to live in the area.

"I applaud the citizens and the work they are doing to help enhance their neighborhoods," Winslow said.

One woman went so far as to give a tour of her own home, Goldie said.

While the bus tour was going on, current residents in danger of losing their homes met with Wells Fargo team members to see what could be done to help them.

The intent was to assist people -- whether they were unemployed, underemployed or “under water” in their mortgages -- with staying in their homes, Hugh Rowden of Wells Fargo said.

“By stabilizing their mortgages, we help stabilize the community,” Rowden said. “The idea was to help as many as possible.”

Ferrier, who moved to the area four years ago from New Jersey, said 45 minutes after she arrived at City Hall, she had a decision from the Wells Fargo workers. Though her mortgage has been extended, she does not mind.