20K Initiative Aims to Serve Financially Vulnerable Homeowners

In rural Alabama, an effort to create a stock of affordable, resilient homes in underserved communities, called the 20K Initiative, is the result of collaboration between Rural Studio—a student-centered design/build program in Auburn University’s College of Arch­itecture, Design and Construction—and government-backed mortgage lender Fannie Mae.

A press release about the program says its hope is to “afford financially vulnerable homeowners the ability to live in dignity, security, and well within their means” in their community.

Research resulting from the affordable-housing initiative is being shared with other industry groups and educational organizations also working to combat the affordable-housing shortage, with the goal of finding solutions that can be applied nationwide.

Fannie Mae VP Michael Hernandez said in a statement that the 20K Initiative dovetails with the Duty to Serve Underserved Markets rule, which ensures Fannie Mae continues to provide leadership for improving the availability of home financing for very low- to moderate-income families in underserved markets.

Along with the support of Fannie Mae, the 20K Initiative was granted funding by Auburn University through its Presidential Awards for Interdisciplinary Research. University president Steven Leath says the initiative symbolizes, “Auburn’s best as a land grant institution,” adding that by improving lives in Alabama and in the nation, the 20K Initiative “brings quality, sustainable homeownership to citizens and builds stronger communities.”

Since 2005, Rural Studio has evaluated various methods for delivering attractive, compact, efficient homes that would appreciate in value for residents who are unable to meet credit requirements in other, more traditional, homebuying processes.

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