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

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.

Services to home buyers: - Down payment and closing cost assistance - Home ownership preparation - Mortgage lending and prescreening - Prepurchase property inspections Services to homeowners: - Bid review and construction management - Free home inspections and lead paint hazard risk assessments - Home improvement planning - Low interest deferred loans - Refinancing Services to the neighborhood: - Neighborhood marketing - Neighborhood planning and development - New home construction and sales - Renovated homes for sale - Resource referrals

- 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. ?- 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. - 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.

Provides the following financial wellness services: - Bankruptcy Counseling and Certification - Debt Counseling and Debt Consolidation - First-Time Homebuyer Housing Counseling - Home Equity Loan Housing Counseling - Mortgage Default and Delinquency Housing Counseling - Reverse Mortgage Housing Counseling - Student Loan 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.

- 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. ?- 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. - 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.

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

- 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. ?- 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. - 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.

- 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. ?- 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. - 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.

Homebuyer education through the White Earth Investment Initiative through classroom and online education, and individual housing advising

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.

- 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

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).?

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: 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

Potential homebuyers can educate themselves by participating in one of Dakota County Community Development Agency's homeownership courses such as: - Home Stretch Homebuyer Education Program: Teaches homebuyers about the entire home buying process from beginning to end and the responsibilities of owning a home. Courses are offered monthly with a total of 9 hours. - Pre-Purchase Counseling: Free individual advising to households purchasing a home in Dakota County and have completed the Home Stretch course. Counseling assists homebuyers in developing a plan to become successful homeowners, save for a down payment, or repair their credit history. - Refinance Counseling: Provides one-on-one counseling sessions to homeowners with an opportunity to compare their current mortgage against a refinanced mortgage

- Financial Freedom training: Provides budgeting to create savings, debt reduction, and asset building, understanding credit, building a good credit rating, consumer protection, and dealing with creditors - Homebuyer Education: Partners with the Minnesota Homeownership Center to provide homebuyer education classes to make successful homeownership possible for low and moderate income households in the community

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

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.

- 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. ?- 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. - 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.

Helps with instruction to financial readiness and credit worthiness needed for mortgage loan approval beginning with a 4-part educational workshop. 3 parts are dedicated to pre-purchase and 1 part is dedicated to post-purchase. 1-to-1 pre-purchase financial counseling completes the instruction.

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

- 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. ?- 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. - 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.