A local program is making a dent in San Diego\u2019s housing crisis\u2014helping dozens of first-time buyers finally get the keys to their own homes.<\/p>\n
The Access Granted Homebuyer Program has already helped more than 100 San Diegans become homeowners across the county, including in Spring Valley.<\/p>\n
For 64-year-old Stanley Greene, the program has been life-changing.<\/p>\n
For years, Greene spent his free time playing guitar\u2014but never in a place he could truly call his own. Now, he\u2019s strumming inside his own condo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it because I finally have control,\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n
After years of renting, Greene says it became increasingly difficult to stay afloat financially.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more difficult trying to have enough income to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI received two eviction notices here in San Diego, and I was just ready to forget renting\u2014let me live in my car.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when he discovered the Access Granted Homebuyer Program, which helped him become a first-time homeowner later in life.<\/p>\n
The program is a partnership between the San Diego Foundation, LISC San Diego and the Urban League of San Diego County. It provides down payment assistance along with financial education\u2014designed not just to help people buy homes, but keep them.<\/p>\n
For Greene, the impact has gone far beyond finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re talking relief and peace. Those things are so important\u2014to have relief and peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
San Diego remains one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, making homeownership out of reach for many. But since launching in 2021, the program has helped open doors for more than 100 residents like Greene.<\/p>\n
Leaders say education is just as critical as financial support.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccess Granted has given people a place to be able to close that gap and to become a homeowner\u2014and to have the security of not seeing escalating rent prices and the fear that often comes with not being certain whether they will be able to afford rent on an ongoing basis,\u201d said Pamela Gray Payton with the San Diego Foundation.<\/p>\n
Greene says without the program, his future would look very different.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I could turn back time and I didn\u2019t find the program, I\u2019d still be living with my sister. I\u2019d still be trying to save as much money as possible,\u201d he said. \u201cBut even when you save enough money, the goal moves again\u2014and it moves again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, instead of chasing a moving target, Greene says he\u2019s finally found stability\u2014and a place to call home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A local program is making a dent in San Diego\u2019s housing crisis\u2014helping dozens of first-time buyers finally get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[3053,285,1011,1336,74,18980,76,75],"class_list":["post-298285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-east-county","tag-homeowner","tag-housing","tag-housing-crisis","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-foundation","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}