Greenville Business Magazine 2009 December issue : Page 29Andrea Devon ew would dispute the notion that teachers are often paid too little for the job of educating an unending stream of students. Fortunately, a local organization has figured out a way to help say thank you for a job well done. Through a $250,000 grant over two years made possible by the Community Foundation of Greenville, the Greenville Housing Fund created a program called Homes for Teachers which lends a hand to first-time homebuyers with forgiv- able loans up to $3,000 that can be used to help cover closing costs, downpayment or principal loan amount. “The response has been overwhelming,” says Deborah McKetty, Executive Direc- tor of the Greenville Housing Fund. “The first time homebuyer tax credit and the decline in local home values were great incentives for teachers to buy homes. We have approved 46 teachers in 14 months who represent 28 different schools throughout Greenville County.” “The state offered a temporary revenue mortgage bond program offering low interest mortgages to teachers across the state,we thought it would be a great idea to pull together a local response to help teachers in Greenville County,”McKetty says. Realizing that the biggest obstacles for most first time homebuyers are the downpay- ment and closing costs,McKetty says they decided to approach the Community Foundation for funding. “We also talked with the school district and learned that they were having a lot of turnover with young teachers who had taught less than three years. They believed that the program could help them retain these teachers in our community for longer tenures.” According to McKetty, the starting salary for most teachers is approximately $31,500. Though the amount is modest, this puts them over 80 percent of the area median income and there are no other programs available to help people in that income range. “Everyone has a teacher that has touched their lives in a positive manner,” says Bob Morris, President of the Community Foundation of Greenville. “Helping teachers and pairing that with the overall economic impact that this program has had on our community already proves what a great investment this has been.” DECEMBER 2009 | GREENVILLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE 29 Publication List |
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