Housing Alliance helping families reach home ownership goals

NAPLES, Fla. (WINK) — The Housing Alliance in Collier County hosted an expo connecting families with community partners who can help navigate the path to homeownership.

Julisa Vicky Rodriguez, a teacher in Collier County, has been wanting to buy a home since she had her daughter. She said the challenge of finding affordable housing has been frustrating.

"I make too much to qualify for low income, so that makes renting extremely expensive, but it also makes buying a house extremely difficult," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said she wanted stability for her family, something rent couldn't provide.

"I wanted to be able to get her a home, and that's something that we can call our own and something that was very stable, where it wasn't constantly fluctuating," Rodriguez said. "Because with rent, every year it goes up."

Rodriguez said over time she had lost hope that she would ever be able to buy a home, until learning about the housing expo and programs they offer.

"The build to rent to own, I thought it was like the perfect program for those of us that are in that missing middle category to be able to actually have that vision of being able to own a home again," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said moving forward she's working with community partners to find the best program that fits her housing goals. Michael Puchalla, CEO of the Housing Alliance and executive director of HELP, said the organization is trying to create a pathway to help people achieve homeownership in a difficult market.

"This market is so difficult, I think everybody knows," Puchalla said. "We have such a challenge with affordable housing. Getting to home ownership, very, very difficult. So we try to create a pathway to help."

Puchalla said there are advocates who work on behalf of families to help them reach their financial and homeownership goals.

"It takes a little bit of time, it takes a little bit of patience and some paperwork, but we're gonna help walk you right through that process and show you the resources that can really help move you towards home ownership or even a more affordable rent," Puchalla said.

Rodriguez said the expo has given her renewed optimism.

"I think a lot of us over the years have lost that hope," Rodriguez said. "So now it's reestablishing hope, it's reestablishing possibility."

Those who weren't able to attend the expo can fill out an online form on the Housing Alliance website to get connected to a housing navigator.