The Cara Program Helps Louis Peoples Bring it Home!

Louis Peoples, an employed Cara participant, recently moved into his newly constructed home at The Boulevard Square, located at 54th & Morgan. The Boulevard Square housing development (in which The Cara Program is a partner) provides affordable home purchasing options to low-income families.

Louis’ ability to provide his family with a home is testament to his hard work and commitment, and also The Cara Program’s extensive range of services. Through The Cara Program, Louis received critical life skills training, job readiness training and was placed in a full time job with benefits.

Over a year of ongoing support and case management from The Cara Program helped Louis become a successful and valued employee. Financial literacy counseling provided by The Cara Program enabled Louis to identify his priorities, and The Cara Program’s matched savings program helped him save enough for a down payment. The matched savings plan encourages participants to set aside money each month and accumulate wealth. After a year of saving as little as $20 each and every month, participants with dependents are eligible for matched savings of up to $1,000.

Homeownership is the long-term goal of many Cara participants. Since January of 2001, over 150 employed Cara participants have been referred to Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), which provides homeownership opportunities to low-income individuals. The matched savings plan enables many participants to purchase a home through NHS after being on the job for only 1½ years. Since 2001, eleven Cara participants have secured their own homes.