February 2024 | Newsletter

Jenny becomes a homeowner

When Jenny hung the blinds in her new home in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston this fall, things started to feel complete. In just a few years, Jenny?worked through tremendous personal challenges to?rebuild her finances and become a first-time homeowner.??

Jenny enrolled in our?FSS program with Boston Housing Authority, because?"I wanted to grow. And what this program said to me was ‘we’re here to help you grow at your own pace, and we’ll give you resources to help you get there’”.?

After working with her Compass?financial coach to improve her credit, Jenny shifted her focus to buying a home. She participated in BHA's First Home?Program, which provides up?to $75,000 towards a down payment, and the MAHA-STASH First-Gen Home program, which matches a portion of participants' own savings.?

Through her meticulous planning and?strategically leveraging these programs with?the $9,000 she saved through FSS, Jenny?achieved her dream and?moved?her family into their new home in?September 2023!

Read more about Jenny's path to homeownership.

Compass expands to Colorado through new partnership with Mercy Housing

Compass is excited to announce a new partnership with?Mercy Housing, one of the nation's leading multifamily affordable housing nonprofit providers.?It is the first time Compass will provide FSS program services in Colorado.?

"The?partnership is a game changer to expand FSS access in the Centennial State" says Compass CEO Markita-Morris-Louis, who had the opportunity recently to meet with the Mercy team in Colorado.?

Read more.

News & Updates

• Boston Housing Authority has renewed its partnership with Compass through 2028 to offer?the FSS program to residents. Over the next five years?we'll work together to support over 3,000 families to unlock a potential $21.5 million in increased earnings and $17 million in savings.?
• Our FSS program with Boston Housing Authority?also received top scores for program quality as part of HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency Achievement Metrics (FAM)?performance?evaluation process.?
• Compass submitted written testimony in support of the Affordable Home Act,?Governor Maura Healey’s $4.13 billion housing bond bill and the largest housing investment in Massachusetts history. In particular,?Compass supports the Governor’s proposal to contribute $50 million to the MassDREAMS program, which provides down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers.
• Compass issued?support for the 401Kids Bill recently introduced to Congress by Senator Bob Casey. The bill is an important way to create "start up capital for life" for?young people, especially those from families with low incomes, to better afford college, buy a home or car, or even start a business.
• Over the past several months, Compass CEO Markita Morris-Louis served as a member of Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker's Transition Committee, supporting her vision to make Philadelphia "the safest, cleanest, and greenest big American city" with economic opportunity for all.?
• Compass is proud to celebrate Black History Month.?We thank our Black Affinity Group for leading us through opportunities to recognize and honor the?Black community. In keeping with this year's theme designated by the Association?for the Study of African American Life & History, our observance has a special focus on the arts.

What We're Reading

Healey advances $4B affordable housing bill, ‘highest priority’ of her administration

Boston Herald

"Filed in October, the Affordable Homes Act,?H. 4138, proposes over 30 capital investments, tax credits, and policy tools to stimulate production, preservation and accessibility of housing across the state. Among the bills many components, the legislation would contribute $1.5 billion to make capital improvements across over 43,000 units of public housing. It also increases funding to a wide array of first-time homebuyers supports and sustainable and green housing initiatives."

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Willie Wilson: Black Americans cannot wait hundreds of years for the wealth gap to close

Chicago Tribune

'Last year, the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank, and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition released a report that found that for every dollar of white family income, Black people had 58 cents in 1967. The improvement since then has been remarkably incremental: "In 2021, Black Americans had 62 cents to white household's dollar," the report said. "With this same rate of progress, it would take Black households 513 years to reach income parity with white households."'

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The FSS Program Was Expanded Beyond Public Housing Authorities—Here’s How It’s Going

Shelterforce

"HUD already has evidence that the program can work for many aspiring families. In 2021,?almost 60 percent of participants?accumulated savings in their escrow account while enrolled. Many families choose to tap some of these resources to support pursuing their goals. About one quarter of graduates had residual savings in their accounts in 2021, with?an average balance of almost $9,500."

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The Home of Carter G. Woodson, the Man Behind Black History Month

The New York Times

"In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, known as “the father of Black history,” bought the home at 1538 Ninth Street for $8,000. The home served as the headquarters for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (which is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or A.S.A.L.H.). It was where he ran the Associated Publishers, the publishing house focused on African American culture and history at a time when many other publishers wouldn’t accept works on the topic. It’s where The Journal of Negro History and The Negro History Bulletin were based, and it’s where he initiated the first Negro History Week — the precursor to Black History Month — in 1926."

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