FHLBank San Francisco’s voluntary Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance matching grant program is helping to make the dream of owning a home a reality for middle-income families and individuals.

The American Dream of owning a home is becoming more out of reach for middle-income households squeezed by high interest rates and an already high-cost housing market. The innovative Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance program is designed to offer matching grants of up to $50,000 to qualifying families and individuals earning just over 80% and up to 140% of the area median income in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

FHLBank San Francisco member Greater Nevada Credit Union, and its home mortgage arm Greater Nevada Mortgage (GNM), are passionate about helping people open doors to homeownership and dedicated to helping their members “Live Greater.” They have enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to offer the Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance program to local families in western and eastern Nevada.

Justina Yellowhair, a stay-at-home mom studying for her doctoral degree, and husband Sonny, an automotive technician, were in a bind when they learned the house they had been renting for seven years was going to be sold. They, along with their four children, would have to move. 

Justina and her husband grew up on Native American reservations, where few people own homes. But with rents ballooning in her Nevada community, she decided to explore the possibility of buying a home for her family.

Her first few calls to lenders were discouraging and she felt defeated. “I felt like I did everything I was supposed to do, but it felt like buying a home was just so out of reach,” said Justina.

Until late one Friday afternoon, she reached a loan officer at GNM who told Justina that she might qualify for a $50,000 Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance grant from FHLBank San Francisco.

“It was like all the stars aligned for us,” added Justina. “Homeownership is such a huge accomplishment from where and how my husband and I grew up,” Without the support of GNM and FHLBank San Francisco, Justina says her family wouldn't have been able to buy a home of their own.

The partnership by Greater Nevada Credit Union's GNM with FHLBank San Francisco's innovative Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance program made a positive impact in the lives of Justina and her family by helping them become homeowners.

“There is nothing that compares to getting someone into their first home, and that’s our focus every day,” said James Anderson, GNM president. “We knew the Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance program would significantly impact many families, and it was thanks to the FHLBank San Francisco that, in the first year, we were able to help 20 Nevada homebuyers access a total of $1 million in grants to own their first home.”

Learn more about the Middle-Income Downpayment Assistance Program and participating members on the FHLBank San Francisco website.