Nyumbani Mnunuzi Klabu

(Swahili for: Home Buyer's Club)

As mentioned last month, part of our participation in the coming of God's realm here in Buffalo has taken the form of facilitating Homebuyer's Clubs. These clubs help people introduce hope into seemingly hopeless financial situations, and help them work toward financial freedom and home ownership.

One of the clubs that we lead is done in conjunction with Jericho Road Ministries, a refugee resettlement ministry on Buffalo's Westside. JRM's City Roots program provides translators who contact the many families in their community to present them with the opportunity to pursue homeownership.

Coming from years (or even decades) of life in a refugee camp, many of these families have lower expectations of what constitutes being "well housed". Some landlords take advantage of the situation, not offering heat or access to water utilities in their homes. Often these homes also have other flagrant housing code violations.

However, many of these new immigrants are very hard working and resourceful. Many have jobs, and though the income may be limited, they are used to living on very little and can often save significant amounts of money each month. Their hard working nature, steady income, frugal budget, and significant savings make them good candidates for homeownership. The Homebuyer's Club then provide language services and connections to the many incentive programs offered by local housing agencies to first-time homebuyers.

Our club has been meeting with people from the Burmese, African, and Middle Eastern refugee communities since October, and it has been very encouraging to see the families making real progress towards being able to provide sustainable housing for their families here on the Westside. In a neighborhood whose intial rise to prominence was the result of the hard work and resourcefulness of the Italian immigrants that settled here, it is especially inspiring to see this community on the rise again because of the new energy and vitality brought by this newest wave of immigrants.

Anyone interested in assisting with the Jericho Road Ministries City Roots Homebuyer's Club can contact me (kauffman.m@gmail.com) and join us at the Loretto Ministry Center, 301 14th St., on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30pm.