H.O.M.E.S (Home-ownership, Opportunity, and Mentorship for Economic Success) is a coalition whose purpose is to increase home-ownership for Baltimore’s working-class families by creating opportunity, jobs for the community, and affordable housing stock that will foster strong mixed-income neighborhoods and increase the city’s tax base, thereby improving living conditions for all Baltimore City residents. We believe the the best way to achieve these goals is through The Dollar House/Dollar Lot Program for the 21st Century.
The guiding philosophy behind H.O.M.E.S. is:
H: Home-ownership and revitalization for people who actually live in the community vs. gentrification and giveaways to a select few investors and absentee landlords.
O: Opportunity means jobs for the community, including ex-offenders returning to the community and participating in renovations.
M: Mentorship in the form of court ordered diversion to apprenticeship programs in the building trades, as opposed to mass incarceration at $38,000 per inmate.
E: Economic stability as the Dollar House Program would produce state and local income tax revenue at very livable wages. The Dollar House Program would also produce minority contracting opportunities.
S: Success is all of the above, which can be achieved with direct loans from the state at a 1% fixed rate, turning a $100,000 renovation investment loan into an affordable $300/per month mortgage for a typical Dollar House owner.