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November 13, 2007

CitizensNet Newsletter for Specific Houston Hope Neighborhoods
Acres Homes
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Dear Acres Homes Community Area Residents:

We are proud to bring you the November 2007 monthly update on Houston Hope, through which ­­­14 families have now been able to buy quality affordable homes in re-energized areas of the city.  Houston Hope is Mayor Bill White's initiative to reinvest in several of Houston 's older neighborhoods through a combination of stabilizing activities such as coordination of public safety programs, rehabbing existing homes, providing quality new affordable homes, and improving infrastructure and drainage. As a participant of the Houston Hope initiative, qualified buyers in the targeted areas may receive up to $30,000 in down payment assistance.

Currently, the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority (LARA) has purchased 830 properties citywide, with 197 of these in the Acres Home area, where 9 families are already in their new homes or will be moving in shortly.

ACRES HOMES

Historical fact: One other aspect of Acres Homes' history is the community's ownership of a suburban bus franchise. The Acres Homes Transit Company (AHTC) received a charter from the state of Texas . Four buses made forty-three round trips a day between downtown Houston and Acres Homes. The AHTC became the first bus franchise in the South owned and operated by African Americans. The AHTC was sold to the Houston Rapid Transit Lines in June of 1968 for $5,000.

Burghli Homes has closed on 6 homes on Apollo Street . Please welcome our new Acres Homes neighbors.

If you are interested in viewing one of these homes, please call Acres Homes CDC at 713.692-1155, Dominion CDC at 713-957-2789, or Burghli Homes at 713-389-1221

If you would like to learn more about Houston Hope, please call 713.522.HOME or visit www.houstonhopehomes.org. If you are a builder and would like to partner with a HUD Certified Community Development Corporation to build in any of the targeted Houston Hope Neighborhoods, please go to www.houstontx.gov/lara.