Home Again Pine Bluff holds dedication for new homes

Pine Bluff, Arkansas – The goal of Home Again Pine Bluff is to revitalize underdeveloped regions of Pine Bluff. They accomplish this while letting the newcomers make progress toward home ownership.

People who have just moved into a new house often describe it as more than just a residence and as the first step toward owning their future.

Diandra Goal recently relocated to Pine Bluff and into a home that Home Again Pine Bluff has renovated.

“You don’t really get an opportunity like this to say in such a short amount of time I’ll be a homeowner,” Goal said.

Goal claims that compared to when they departed, the street they live on now appears very different.

“All of east 8th was kind of run down, so it was really possibly a place of devastation,” Goal said.

That’s no longer the case, according to her, on her block. back at home In Pine Bluff, four newly constructed homes were dedicated this past weekend.

After building is complete, according to Home Again Pine Bluff CEO Matt Mosler, homes are rented to families for two years.

“We rent it to them for below market rates, encourage them to take the difference and open a savings account, so at the end of two years, you’ve got over 5000 dollars in savings, and then if you complete the program we sell you the house for half of its appraised value,” Mosler said.

The two-year period also includes homeownership and financial education workshops for the newcomers.

“They’re not just throwing us out there in the water and saying okay swim, we’re going to take some lessons here,” Goal said.

Goal is pleased to have a home that she and her family can call their own and believes that this was beneficial for the neighborhood.

“When they came in and remodeled these houses, they couldn’t have done anything better for Pine Bluff, they really did a great job,” Goal said.

Back at Home Pine Bluff has various plans in the pipeline to carry out its purpose, including remodeling more homes.