- Homebuyer Counseling: Helps individuals set themselves up for long-term success for buying a home. Counselors will: assess the financial situation, address barriers such as credit and debt, determine if an client is ready to buy and help calculate what they can afford, share information on current mortgage loan programs, and refer to down payment and closing cost assistance programs. - Foreclosure Prevention: Helps individuals avoid foreclosure when they're struggling to make mortgage payments. Counselors: review current finances to give a clear idea of options, works with individuals to submit paperwork to apply for mortgage modification, refers to government programs to help save the home, assists with postponing the sheriff's sale to enable more time to work out a mortgage solution. - Reverse Mortgage Counseling: Advises individuals on reverse mortgages which allows older adults who have equity in their homes to obtain cash from their homes without selling them in order to pay for home health care and other needed services. Reverse mortgage counseling is available by phone throughout Minnesota or in person at the Brainerd, Duluth, Minneapolis, and Willmar locations only.

- Head Start - Early Headstart - Invest Early - Head Start children 0 - pre-school age children - Information and referral - KOOTASCA Transitional - Homebuyer Program/Home Stretch - Fairview Horizon Apartments - Family Homeless Prevention Program - Energy Assistance - Information & Referral - Transitional Housing - Weatherization - Home Rehabilitation Grants/Loans - Crisis/Outreach - PC's for People

Provides one-on-one assistance to help individuals navigate their finances, improve their financial goals, and navigate the financial systems. Services include: - Create and improve credit - Financial coaching by appointment - Financial management skills - Help navigate financial processes and applications - Home Stretch Homebuyer Workshop: An 8-hour workshop that educates and informs future homeowners to help them understand the homebuying process. The training includes information about the process of buying a home and access to down payment programs. - Gain access to supplemental resources such as the Lending Circles (Tandas) program. The Lending Circles program provides a secured loan, without cost or interest, to establish or build credit and improve the way individuals manage money. - Small business support for entrepreneurs or those interested in becoming business owners. Offers support to business owners by evaluating and organizing their finances. - Tax preparation for people with low or medium income during the tax season

Provides one-on-one assistance to help individuals navigate their finances, improve their financial goals, and navigate the financial systems. Services include: - Create and improve credit - Financial coaching by appointment - Financial management skills - Help navigate financial processes and applications - Home Stretch Homebuyer Workshop: An 8-hour workshop that educates and informs future homeowners to help them understand the homebuying process. The training includes information about the process of buying a home and access to down payment programs. - Gain access to supplemental resources such as the Lending Circles (Tandas) program. The Lending Circles program provides a secured loan, without cost or interest, to establish or build credit and improve the way individuals manage money. - Small business support for entrepreneurs or those interested in becoming business owners. Offers support to business owners by evaluating and organizing their finances. - Tax preparation for people with low or medium income during the tax season

- ACT test preparation - Acting - Adapted sports/games - American Sign Language and German language instruction - Ballet - Basketball - Beadwork - Belly dancing - Bingo - Boxing - Bridge game - Chess - Computer classes - Cooking - Drawing - Exercise - Field trips - Figure skating - Gardening - General health education - Gymnastics - Homebuyer counseling - Jazz dancing - Karate - Mature driver training - Painting - Parenting skills classes - Sculpture - Self-defense - Sewing - Snowshoeing - Swimming lessons - T'ai Chi - Table tennis - Taekwondo - Volleyball - Writing - Yoga

Homebuyer Counseling: Provides free, HUD Housing Counselors to help clients understand how to be responsible homeowners, determine homebuyer readiness by reviewing finances, checking credit reports, and creating a budget Home Stretch Workshops: Provides certified instructor led workshops that guide potential homebuyers to help determine readiness, make a plan to get there, and prepare for homeownership

Partners with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) to support military members, veterans, and their families in maintaining their wellbeing through CORE which stands for Casework, Outreach, Referral, and Education. CORE services can foster greater peace of mind and resiliency, support the development of new skills to cope with challenges, and improve relationships. Services include: Behavioral Health Counseling - Deployment and reintegration support - Diagnostic assessment - Family counseling and support - Individual and couples counseling - Trauma-focused behavioral therapy Caregiver Support and Respite - Caregiver coaching and counseling - Caregiver respite - Caregiver support groups - Caregiver training and education - Emergency planning for caregivers - Telephone reassurance Case Management - Case managers assess each individual's situation and create a personalized plan identifying services and resources found at Lutheran Social Services or through a network of providers across Minnesota Financial Counseling - Budgeting - Credit Improvement - Debt Management - Homebuyer Education - Student Loan Counseling Homeless Initiative - Referrals to short and long term shelter options Support Groups - Men's Veterans PTSD Support Group - Women's Support Group for Family Members of Veterans

Achieve Homeownership: Identifies and addresses barriers to homeownership faced by culturally diverse households and includes culturally-tailored financial literacy classes, homebuyer education classes, prepurchase financial counseling, and downpayment and closing cost assistance programs Multi-Family Projects: Creates and preserves affordable housing throughout southeast and south central Minnesota (Fox Pointe Townhomes, Spring Creek Townhomes, Prairiewood Townhomes, and Northbridge Apartments).?

Homestretch Home Buyer Education Program: A homebuyer education program that provides information on home purchasing loan options, purchase agreements, loan closings, budgeting, and home maintenance after the purchase. After class completion, a certificate is obtained which may enable the participant to apply for certain loan programs. MHFA Rehabilitation Loan: Income-based deferred loans for improvements for basic, necessary housing repair to owner-occupied properties. There is no interest or monthly payment until the owner sells, transfer or move from the property or until after the 15th year when the deferred loan is due and payable. Loans is also available to mobile/manufactured homes taxed as personal property located in a mobile home park. Small Cities Development Program Rehab Loans: Income-based deferred grants to low to moderate-income households living in substandard housing. The program encourages the improvement of the general appearance and value of the housing stock while making a visible and substantial improvement in the quality of life in the community. Funds are also available to commercial and rental property owners. This program can provide upgrades to properties, helping them meet code requirements and design standards. Small Cities' grants require a match from the owner of the property. Most grants are written as a 70-80% grant funds and a 20-30% owner match for project funding. There is a maximum amount of funds that a project can receive as well. Prairie Five will assist in determining the match and other funding sources or options that may be available to fund the match requirement, if needed.

- Homebuyer Counseling: Helps individuals set themselves up for long-term success for buying a home. Counselors will: assess the financial situation, address barriers such as credit and debt, determine if an client is ready to buy and help calculate what they can afford, share information on current mortgage loan programs, and refer to down payment and closing cost assistance programs. - Foreclosure Prevention: Helps individuals avoid foreclosure when they're struggling to make mortgage payments. Counselors: review current finances to give a clear idea of options, works with individuals to submit paperwork to apply for mortgage modification, refers to government programs to help save the home, assists with postponing the sheriff's sale to enable more time to work out a mortgage solution. - Reverse Mortgage Counseling: Advises individuals on reverse mortgages which allows older adults who have equity in their homes to obtain cash from their homes without selling them in order to pay for home health care and other needed services. Reverse mortgage counseling is available by phone throughout Minnesota or in person at the Brainerd, Duluth, Minneapolis, and Willmar locations only.

Agriculture: Works directly with the beginning farmers and build relations between them, local, and regional markets Asset Building: Assists individuals to achieve long-term economic goals through asset building. Helps establish finacial literacy, identifying edication and training programs. Assists in developing budgets and savings plans for home buyers. Emergency Housing Services: Assists immigrants and refugees to secure affordable, safe rental housing. Participants in this program are assisted with housing placement, a small short-term rental subsidy (based on income eligibility) and intensive case management to help families overcome barriers to self-sufficiency and obtain sustainable housing. Homeownership Counseling: Provides one-on-one counseling and group education workshops to educate individuals on the home buying process and determine whether they are ready for homeownership. Individual counseling sessions include housing needs assessment, financial assessment, credit review, and implementation of an action plan to reach each participant's housing goals. Refugee IDA Program: An one-to-one match program to help refugees save money towards either college, car, home and owning their business. The program provides access to financial trainings, workshops, resources. Southeast Asian Farmers Education: Helps Hmong, Burmese, Karen, and Bhutanese farmers learn how to best grow their farm businesses. Program provides the resources, training, and technical assistance to help beginning and seasoned farmers to improve their income. Small Business Loans: Offers a variety of loansto economically disadvantaged clients from the immigrant and refugee communities who are intrested in starting or expanding a business. The program is designed to help start and/or expand micro-enterprises and transition towards the economic independence, business development, job creation, and community revitalization.

Helps individuals deal with a variety of financial challenges through the following services: - Bankruptcy Certificates: For individuals planning on filing for Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, a Certified Pre-Filing Counseling Session is provided. For individuals who have recently filed Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, a Certified Post-Filing Debtor Education Course is provided. - Credit Counseling: Individuals with excessive debts can meet with a counselor in person, by phone or correspond online. In-person counseling sessions typically last between 30 - 60 minutes. Phone counseling sessions commonly last about 30 minutes, while online exchanges can take place over several days. Individuals establish financial goals, create a budget, decide the best path for repaying and eliminating debt, repay debt within the next 3-5 years at lower interest rates and consider meeting with a bankruptcy attorney. - Credit Report Review: Receive advice and information on how to improve credit score and meet financial goals. Process can take 20 minutes or last as long as 2 or 3 1-hour sessions. Meet with a certified counselor by phone or via web conferencing. - Debt and Payday Loan Consolidation: Takes all of the unsecured debt an individual owes and combines it into 1 monthly payment. - Debt Management: Put together a personal or household budget; receive clarity regarding a current debt situation; compare current debt repayment options with a debt management program; negotiate new agreements with creditors to lower interest rates, stop late or over-limit fees and start reporting payments as on time rather than late; accept a single payment during the month and disperse it to all creditors per their new agreements. Individuals must have a steady income. - Debt Relief: Reorganization or complete forgiveness of an individual's debt that is owed to outside creditors. Debt accrued, is consoldiated into 1, typically smaller, monthly payment and sent to creditors once they accept a proposal. The account wil be closed to further charging and is paid off in an expedited manner. Once an account is paid in full, the overall monthly payment remains the same, and the additional funds are distributed to the next account in line in order to pay the total debt down as quickly as possible. - Military Debt Relief: Credit counseling; reduce interest rates and stop late and over-limit fees; consolidate debt into 1 lower monthly payment; budget counseling; debt management plans; financial education resources; student loan counseling; bankruptcy counseling and education certificates; housing counseling and home ownership preparation education; credit report reviews and analysis. - Student Loan Counseling: Loan forgiveness, discharge, cancellation and guidance

Provides culturally appropriate pathways to homeownership for Somali women and their families, guiding women on how to utilize resources and tools for financial empowerment, and preparing them to make financial investments in a home. Services provided: - Create an action plan and steps to achieve goals - Develop a budget and savings plan - Encouragement and nonjudgmental support to build financial confidence - Homebuyer and financial education workshop - Individualized planning unique to the needs of each woman - One-on-one advice regarding credit reports and addressing credit problems

- Prevention of Homelessness: HUD certified counselors will work with individuals to analyze their situation, including needs and barriers to finding and keeping accommodations. Individuals are then connected to resources that can help to resolve issues; resources offered by MUL and partner agencies in the community. - Housing Discrimination Workshop: workshop covering fair lending practices, lending scams, and rental discrimination. Qualifying clients will have access to free legal consultation through the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis and the Volunteer Lawyers Network. One-on-one counseling is also available by appointment. - Realizing the American Dream: A homebuyer education course offering an interactive curriculum on all aspects of purchasing a home. Offers non-biased, third party advice and access to multi-faceted resources. The curriculum covers topics including: are you ready to buy a home, managing your money, obtaining a mortgage loan, shopping for a home, and protecting your investment. Upon completion of the course, each participant is assigned to a HUD approved housing counselor who works with participants one-on-one to create an individual road map to home ownership.

Homebuyer Counseling: Provides free, HUD Housing Counselors to help clients understand how to be responsible homeowners, determine homebuyer readiness by reviewing finances, checking credit reports, and creating a budget Home Stretch Workshops: Provides certified instructor led workshops that guide potential homebuyers to help determine readiness, make a plan to get there, and prepare for homeownership

Private nonprofit company revitalizing neighborhoods by creating and supporting successful home ownership through a one-stop shop: - Counseling on home purchase - Financial literacy programs - credit, budgeting, financial planning - Foreclosure prevention, anti-predatory lending support and programs - Home Stretch home buyer workshops - Low interest and deferred loans for home improvement and down payment assistance; grants may be available - Programming in Hmong including Home Stretch Workshops, home buyer, financial literacy, foreclosure prevention programs - Renovated or new homes for sale NOTE: Does not provide rental assistance, rental units, or assist with other rental issues

Homestretch Home Buyer Education Program: A homebuyer education program that provides information on home purchasing loan options, purchase agreements, loan closings, budgeting, and home maintenance after the purchase. After class completion, a certificate is obtained which may enable the participant to apply for certain loan programs. MHFA Rehabilitation Loan: Income-based deferred loans for improvements for basic, necessary housing repair to owner-occupied properties. There is no interest or monthly payment until the owner sells, transfer or move from the property or until after the 15th year when the deferred loan is due and payable. Loans is also available to mobile/manufactured homes taxed as personal property located in a mobile home park. Small Cities Development Program Rehab Loans: Income-based deferred grants to low to moderate-income households living in substandard housing. The program encourages the improvement of the general appearance and value of the housing stock while making a visible and substantial improvement in the quality of life in the community. Funds are also available to commercial and rental property owners. This program can provide upgrades to properties, helping them meet code requirements and design standards. Small Cities' grants require a match from the owner of the property. Most grants are written as a 70-80% grant funds and a 20-30% owner match for project funding. There is a maximum amount of funds that a project can receive as well. Prairie Five will assist in determining the match and other funding sources or options that may be available to fund the match requirement, if needed.

Provides homebuyer counseling and education courses for individuals interested in buying a home for the first time. Programs offered: - Framework Online Classes: Provides an online homebuyer education course. Satisfies the homebuyer education requirements of Fannie Mae HomePath Ready Buyer and HomeReady by Fannie Mae. - Homebuyer Counseling: Free one-on-one counseling service to determine financial readiness to buy a home, help get credit ready, and educate on the process of buying a house and refer to programs that help - Home Stretch In-Person Classes: Eight-hour education course that prepares participants for the home buying process. The classroom-style workshop is taught by expert instructors from the nonprofit, real estate, and lending industries. Home Stretch is a requirement for most homebuyer assistance programs.

Financial Education program which offers individuals the opportunity to learn the basics of creating a budget, banking, building credit, and the importance of saving. Services include: - Financial Coach: Provides one-on-one service to help individuals create a budget, review credit reports, work on financial goal planning, and learn how to move toward financial stability and independence - Home Stretch: Partnership with MN Housing and MN Homeownership Center; an 8-hour class that walks through all of the steps of purchasing a home. Individuals will hear from realty, lending, and home insurance professionals.

- Both group workshops and individual homebuyer counseling are available - Referrals to home buyer education and counseling programs to prepare potential buyers for successful homeownership

Section 8 Home Ownership - Section 8 voucher holders may be eligible for the Section 8 homeownership program - The rental assistance voucher can be used toward a monthly mortgage payment First-Time Homebuyer Program - Allocation for loans to first-time homebuyers available - First-time homebuyers or people who have not owned a home in the last three (3) years may qualify - The minimum requirements are buyers must have a minimum credit score of 640 and must meet income guidelines Homes and Lots for Sale Lots and homes are for sale to any person(s) who are at or below the following income guidelines: - 1-2 persons: $80,400/year - 3 + persons: $92,460/year Lots and homes for sale in the Cities of Elgin, Kenyon, St. Charles, and Wabasha - Income guidelines apply only to the first household to occupy a house - Restrictive covenants are assigned with the lots - The monitoring of each lot will be in effect from lot purchase through the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy - Private developers are welcome to purchase lot but must sell to buyers who qualify per the income guidelines - Lots prices start at $15,600 and are sold 'as is'

- Pre-purchase/homeownership informational workshops and individual counseling on home purchase process - Foreclosure Prevention: Assistance on work-out options with lenders and HUD - Provides free housing counseling

A multi-service community-based facility offering a range of support services and resources to enhance skills, employability and long-term career mobility to traditionally under-served populations. Services include: - One-to-one assistance with resume, job search and entry-level placement needs - Job placement, retention and ongoing support services for program graduates - Career development, career awareness, career change counseling, career exploration, vocational assessment - Professional development designed specifically for currently-employed workers - A computer lab that provides self-directed technology usage, as well as more formal instruction - Sector-based classroom job skill programs in partnership with major employers in healthcare and banking - Work readiness training programs for individuals with criminal histories - Employment training and benefits eligibility and review for individuals with HIV/AIDS - Access to information about GED and post-secondary educational programs - Financial literacy coaching - Homebuyer education and pre/post purchase counseling

Homestretch Home Buyer Education Program: A homebuyer education program that provides information on home purchasing loan options, purchase agreements, loan closings, budgeting, and home maintenance after the purchase. After class completion, a certificate is obtained which may enable the participant to apply for certain loan programs. MHFA Rehabilitation Loan: Income-based deferred loans for improvements for basic, necessary housing repair to owner-occupied properties. There is no interest or monthly payment until the owner sells, transfer or move from the property or until after the 15th year when the deferred loan is due and payable. Loans is also available to mobile/manufactured homes taxed as personal property located in a mobile home park. Small Cities Development Program Rehab Loans: Income-based deferred grants to low to moderate-income households living in substandard housing. The program encourages the improvement of the general appearance and value of the housing stock while making a visible and substantial improvement in the quality of life in the community. Funds are also available to commercial and rental property owners. This program can provide upgrades to properties, helping them meet code requirements and design standards. Small Cities' grants require a match from the owner of the property. Most grants are written as a 70-80% grant funds and a 20-30% owner match for project funding. There is a maximum amount of funds that a project can receive as well. Prairie Five will assist in determining the match and other funding sources or options that may be available to fund the match requirement, if needed.

Provides culturally appropriate pathways to homeownership for Somali women and their families, guiding women on how to utilize resources and tools for financial empowerment, and preparing them to make financial investments in a home. Services provided: - Create an action plan and steps to achieve goals - Develop a budget and savings plan - Encouragement and nonjudgmental support to build financial confidence - Homebuyer and financial education workshop - Individualized planning unique to the needs of each woman - One-on-one advice regarding credit reports and addressing credit problems