The Prize: A Home of Her Very Own

When Normene Woods sees a soda can or bottle, she picks it up -- whether it’s on the street or at the soul food restaurant where she works as a cashier and waitress.

At five cents a can or bottle, Woods said she makes about $45 a month.

She calls it “hustling” for a home of her own.

For several months, the 46-year-old Inglewood mother of two teenage boys and an adult daughter has been setting aside her modest profits in hopes of raising enough for a down payment on her first house.

Woods, who hopes to raise at least $3,600 by next summer, is now trying to take advantage of an option under the federal Section 8 housing assistance program that allows some low-income families to use the equivalent of their rental assistance toward monthly mortgage payments.

In addition to Inglewood, which adopted the mortgage option in November, other area housing agencies offering the homeownership program include those in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale.

To be eligible for the program, residents receiving rental assistance must meet requirements that include a minimum income level and continuous employment for at least a year.

The Inglewood Housing Authority wanted to move families on housing assistance to self-sufficiency, said Art Waller, housing manager for the Inglewood Community Development and Housing Department.

The agency administers rental vouchers for 1,700 families, with 4,800 more on a waiting list, he said.

“It would give families the opportunity to live the American dream, so to speak,” Waller said. “It would build equity and wealth, and stabilize the living situation.”

Because the homeownership option is voluntary, not all housing authorities believe the program will work in their areas. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development does not provide additional funds or vouchers for the homeownership program.

Since Congress approved the homeownership program in 1999, about 500 families nationwide have used it to buy homes, according to HUD. About 200 of the 1,200 housing authorities that administer the Section 8 program offer the homeownership option, HUD said.

In California, a little more than a dozen housing authorities offer the program. An early participant, the San Bernardino County Housing Authority, has helped eight families buy homes, said Sandy Henson, development and acquisition manager for the authority.

In Inglewood, housing officials hope to help the first family move out of an apartment and into a house by the end of 2003, Waller said.

Within five years, officials say, they want to see 25 Inglewood families living in their own homes.

Though HUD sets the criteria for eligibility, local housing authorities can impose other requirements. Here’s how the program works in Inglewood:

Participants must have a minimum annual income of $13,500. They must work at least 30 hours a week and have been employed for at least one year, have a good record as a Section 8 recipient, be a first-time home buyer, and raise a down payment of at least 3%.

The maximum time for assistance under the homeownership program is 15 years, meaning the buyer must have reached some level of self-sufficiency to continue the terms of the mortgage.

After participants are ruled eligible, they work directly with Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services, which provides extensive counseling and helps secure mortgages.

It can take up to two years from enrollment to closing the deal on the house.

The toughest part of the process may be finding affordable homes in the current real estate market, some housing officials say.

That’s why the housing agency in Los Angeles County, for one, decided against participating in the Section 8 homeownership program in unincorporated areas.

“Oftentimes you read about people paying or offering above the asking price,” said Marie Quon-Hom, assistant director of the assisted housing division of the Los Angeles County Housing Authority. “It’s not a good market right now because of that.”

But officials in Inglewood are not discouraged.

“There will be opportunities to purchase a home,” said Waller, Inglewood’s housing manager. “You’ll never know until you give it a shot.”

Martina Guilfoil, executive director of Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services, points to the program’s benefits not only for the families but for the community.

Woods, who earns $1,400 a month at the restaurant, puts $300 a month into a savings account sponsored by Housing Services, which matches the money 5 to 1.

And then there is Woods’ “hustling.”

One day, when boxer Mike Tyson came into the restaurant -- the Serving Spoon in Inglewood -- Woods said she took pictures of her customers with the fighter. Then she bought some frames at a bargain store.

By selling the photos for $10 each, she made an $80 profit.

“That went into my house account,” she said. “Like I said: I’ll do what I have to do to come up with my $300.”