WARSAW — Each June, USDA celebrates National Homeownership Month with events across the country to highlight USDA’s continuing commitment to providing affordable housing opportunities.

On Thursday, June 20, local USDA representatives held a homeownership ceremonial event at a newly constructed home on West Point Drive, Warsaw, and presented new homeowner Melissa Huhn with a hanging flower planter and a plaque. The initial plan for the ceremonial event included planting a tree at the home; however, this was changed due to recent rainfall and the wet, muddy condition of the yard.

Huhn and her family have been residing in the home for the last two months. Huhn accessed the USDA Direct Single-Family Housing Program in order to have the home built for her and her family.

“They were very easy to work with,” said Huhn. “This has been a blessing, to have this program. We couldn’t have afforded this house otherwise, with our finances and our situation. It was a Godsend really, for our family.”

USDA Single Family Housing programs have assisted more than 4.4 million families in rural America since President Truman signed the Housing Act in 1949.

Rural Development programs that support rural homeownership include:

• USDA partnerships with private-sector lenders to help rural families buy homes. Providing loan guarantees for lenders working with low- to moderate-income families is the key to opening up private-sector homeownership opportunities.
• Direct home loans for very-low- and low-income applicants. Some borrowers qualify for program benefits that effectively reduce the interest rate on their monthly mortgage payments to 1 percent.
• Repair loans and grants that help people improve access to their homes and remove health and safety hazards such as poor wiring or plumbing.
• Mutual Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance grants are available to nonprofit organizations to help low income families build their own rural homes.

To learn more about USDA’s home ownership and owner-occupied repair programs, contact the Knox USDA office at (574) 772-3066, ext. 4.