With the help of Tenants to Homeowners Inc., Victoria Wilson was able to purchase her own home this fall and move her family from the cramped two-bedroom apartment where they had been living for years.

This holiday season, Victoria Wilson and her three children put up a hot pink, purple and silver Christmas tree, making a huge statement this very first year they were able to decorate their own house for the holidays.

With the help of Tenants to Homeowners Inc., Wilson was able to purchase her own home this fall and finally move her family from the cramped two-bedroom apartment where they had been living for years.

For Wilson, her new house is more than walls and doors and floors. It’s a symbol that her family is now moving forward in life, not stuck in place. “I am so grateful for this home, that it’s restored our inner peace,” she said.

“We were growing, growing, growing, but we couldn’t move on.”

The reason? Housing costs were too high for Wilson to qualify for a mortgage. “I would drive around Lawrence, and the houses were listed at $150,000 or $160,000, and that was out of my range,” said Wilson, who was recently promoted to supervisor of the internal support group at General Dynamics Information Technology in Lawrence.

But through Tenants to Homeowner’s Lawrence Community Housing Trust Program, Wilson was able to purchase one of the agency’s resale homes, which sell for below market value. The Lawrence-Douglas Housing Authority helped her with her down payment.

Tenants to Homeowners, a community partner of United Way of Douglas County that receives funding through United Way’s self-sufficiency goal, is focused on helping Douglas County residents find and keep quality, low-cost housing. To do so, the organization acquires homes then sells or rents them below market value to income-qualified people, said Rebecca Buford, executive director of Tenants to Homeowners.

“We provide a lot of housing for teachers, government workers and nonprofit professionals. Most have steady jobs, great job history and are making moderate wages, but just not enough to get started with the high housing costs in Lawrence,” Buford said.

In August, the average home cost in Lawrence was $192,846, the Lawrence Board of Realtors reported. According to the City of Lawrence 2013-2017 Consolidated Plan, 6,200 households pay over 50 percent of their monthly income for housing.

“United Way invests in affordable housing programs because housing and employment are critical for financial stability,” said Erika Dvorske, United Way President/CEO. “Supporting families who are moving out of poverty will keep them on a path to financial stability. This is one example of how United Way is championing initiatives that create long-term solutions to our community’s challenges, not just short term fixes.”

To meet the demand for quality, affordable housing in Douglas County, Tenants to Homeowners has developed a stock of 75 affordable homes and 54 low-cost rental properties, Buford said. When homeowners who purchase a home through Tenants to Homeowners decide to sell, they are only allowed to sell the home for their original purchase price plus 25 percent of the market appreciation while they lived there, not full market value, so that the home will remain affordable for future buyers.

As part of the United Way’s self-sufficiency work group, focused on moving people from crisis to stability, Tenants to Homeowners collaborates with other United Way community partners to help their clients find housing or get the information and support they need to sustain housing. For example, the A Place to Make Your Own rental readiness and retention program, which is funded by United Way with a match from Douglas County Bank, prepares people to be successful in their new home.

The program supports homeless and near-homeless people served by United Way partners like Lawrence Community Shelter, the Salvation Army, the Willow Domestic Violence Center, Catholic Charities and Ballard Community Services as they take steps toward finding and maintaining safe, permanent, affordable housing.

Today, Wilson looks back on the difficult years her family just went through. As a single parent going to school full time at Haskell Indian Nations University and working part time, she didn’t think she would ever be in a position to own her own home. Now, as she and her children spend their first Christmas in their house, she said her feelings are, “beyond the word for thankfulness. My children are proud of their home.”