As the state’s second largest recipient of funds to provide pre-purchase counseling and homebuyer education, PRG helps to turn prospective buyers into home owners and to address the racial home ownership gap. A recent survey of PRG clients tells us more about the impact of our work in these services.

According to the survey, an estimated 300 households of color purchased homes after using PRG’s pre-purchase counseling and homebuyer education services over the past three years. This is important because for most middle-income Americans, their home is their primary asset, and access to home ownership allows households to build wealth.

In Minnesota, where the racial home ownership gap is one of the worst in the nation (the overall home ownership rate is 70%, but for households of color, the rate is 41%), housing counseling and education helps buyers overcome barriers (such as first generation and first time home buyers, buyers in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by the foreclosure crisis) that often represent systemic racial inequities. When combined with the fact that 73% of PRG-developed homes are purchased by households of color, we are making a real dent in the home ownership gap.

If you’ve purchased a home, you know how bumpy the road to home ownership can be, and PRG’s housing-related services help people dreaming of home ownership navigate the complexities of home buying.