Wells Fargo is investing $5.7 million in the Kansas City area to provide down payment assistance to eligible residents.
Residents in Cass, Clay and Jackson county will be able to apply for the $15,000 down payment assistance if they meet certain income eligibility requirements.
The program is a partnership with Westside Housing Organization and is part of the NeighborhoodLIFT program. This was created in 2012 to help provide financial assistance to low-income homeowners.
Wells Fargo region bank president for Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri Kirk Kellner said the program also includes required instruction on home ownership.
The program was in Kansas City four years ago and provided down payment assistance to around 300 homeowners, according to a press release from Wells Fargo.
Bridget Bolder hopes she is one of the homeowners who will receive the assistance this time around.
“Owning a home, it would give me pride and sense that I have something tangible, something that I can eventually pass down to my children,” Bolder said.
Kim Smith-Moore, senior vice president of customer and community grant programs for Wells Fargo, said applicants have to live in the home they buy for five years.
“So we’re looking for people to live in properties and be invested in the communities that they purchase their homes in,” Smith-Moore said.
Income eligibility requirements
Infogram
You can find out more about the program by attending the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT event July 27 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or July 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kansas City Convention Center.
Aviva Okeson-Haberman is a KCUR news intern.