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Spotlight Feature
Young Women Achieve American Dream with
Opportunity Passport™
Katrina Lawson's new house
Katrina Lawson, a 24-year-old single mom who works as a Fulton County, Ga., deputy sheriff, recently bought a beautiful, $200,000 home in Gwinnett County near Atlanta, thanks to money she saved in the Opportunity Passport™ program, which helps foster care youth with housing, healthcare, educational and employment services. Opportunity Passport™ savings often are used to buy cars, establish small businesses, rent apartments, and pay for tuition. The Initiative believes Lawson is the first young person to use her Opportunity Passport™ to purchase a home. A second young person, Anita Alston, also recently closed on her new home in Atlanta, using her Opportunity Passport™ savings.
Lawson and Alston purchased their homes through Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Initiative's Opportunity Passport™ program, which features a special savings account known as an individual development account (IDA), in which every dollar that a participant saves is matched one-to-one, three-to-one, or in the case of homeownership, four-to-one – up to $1,000.
The Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Initiative is a pilot program of The Community Foundation in Atlanta. Thanks to a partnership with United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, MAYOI is able to offer a 4:1 match for homeownership and a 3:1 match for micro-enterprise. Atlanta Urban League, one of MAYOI's Door Opener partnerships, provides the first-time homeownership counseling, a necessary prerequisite for the 4:1 match.
Lawson, who entered foster care at age 7 in Illinois, worked hard for her four-bedroom house. She attended the required homeownership counseling, improved her money management, and balanced her budget regularly. She also worked two fulltime jobs – the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at the sheriff's office and full days as a hospital lab tech. She was able to save $1,000 and received a $4,000 match, which she used for a down payment. "It helped me gain financial stability," says Lawson, who recently got her associate's degree in criminal justice. "It cost a lot to purchase a house. I didn't have all the money saved. But with this program, I was able to do it. It feels good to be a homeowner."
Anita Alston's new townhouse
Alston, 23, who was in foster care from birth until she aged out at 18, also learned a lot in those homeownership counseling classes. She opened her IDA in June and saved $1,000 by September by cutting back on movies, manicures, and restaurants. She also received the $4,000 match, permitting her to put $5,000 down on her $134,000 townhouse. Her Urban League counselor taught her a lot. "There were a lot of things I didn't understand, and he made it less confusing," she says. She moved into her three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath place in early November. Alston interned on Capitol Hill this past summer for Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, and currently works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She plans to start a master's in public health next fall and this summer plans to start a mentoring program for children still in foster care.
Lawson moved into her new home last month with her seven-year-old daughter, Larenzia. Her big wish is for a dining room set. Alston doesn't have much furniture either and sleeps on an air mattress. But neither one is complaining. "I am so fortunate to have been able to buy this house," says Lawson.
