The Home Stretch
by John Ryan
In the past two years, the south suburbs have experienced more foreclosure filings than any other part of the six-county metropolitan Chicago area.
Several agencies and businesses now are coming together to try to stabilize homeownership through an employerassisted housing program.
Friday, representatives of these organizations talked with employers and economic development coordinators in the area about the Charter One Workforce Housing Initiative during a luncheon at Olympia Fields Country Club.
Essentially, the program asks employers or local communities to offer five-year forgivable loans to employees to help them buy homes near the business or near public transportation, or any other criteria the employer deems important.
"The criteria can be customized to meet the company's needs," said MarySue Barrett, president of the Metropolitan Planning Council.
The MPC, which partnered with Charter One Bank, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corp. on the initiative, works directly with employees on the loans, offering training for employees on what they need to know about buying a house.
For the rest of this article please visit http://www.southtownstar.com/index.html