MILWAUKEE – July 6, 2016 – Associated Bank is pleased to partner with ACTS Housing to help support their mission of empowering low-income families to buy foreclosed houses for rehabilitation and revitalize Milwaukee neighborhoods.
As part of the partnership, Associated Bank has contributed to ACTS Housing in their role in the community with $50,000 in rehab grants and $17,500 for other program support. This financial support has helped six families become homeowners as of this date, with the opportunity to help other strong families become homeowners in the future.
Jill Wiess, corporate social responsibility manager at Associated Bank, comments “We decided to partner with ACTS Housing in order to help make a positive impact on the community. We look forward to continuing to work together toward a shared vision of creating vibrant Milwaukee neighborhoods through home ownership.”
Michael Gosman, executive director of ACTS Housing, said “We are very thankful to have Associated Bank as a partner in the work ACTS families are doing to revitalize their communities. Aside from having internal champions at Associated Bank that support ACTS Housing’s work and advocate for our families, the financial support from Associated Bank has made a huge impact.”
As an example, Ashlee is a single mom with two young children who wanted to purchase a house in Milwaukee and make it a home for her family. After hearing about the ACTS program from a friend at work, she met with ACTS Realtor Coretta Herring to learn more. Ashlee then completed some forms for a simple credit check and she was approved for the program.
Ashlee worked with ACTS Housing to select and purchase a donated bank foreclosure house in her neighborhood. In addition to the $3,500 purchase price, there was $20,000 worth of required home repairs including roofing, heating, electricity and more. Ashlee was able to pay for the repairs with an Associated Bank grant, ACTS Housing loan, her own cash and a state down payment grant. Rehab counselor Shannon Pulliam provided assistance with selecting contractors, managing the repair projects and coordinating volunteers for some of the projects.
“The program is a true blessing,” said Ashlee. “I would recommend going through ACTS because the people are very caring and they made it easy for me. The experience was wonderful!”
Ashlee is proud to transition from a renter to a homeowner. She’s excited about doing some gardening in her yard while her son and daughter enjoy their new swing set and slide.