News 10 has partnered with local community action agency, ACCESS, in an effort to bring awareness to the growing issue of housing insecurity and to get the word out about help that is available.

This week, we explain how ACCESS can help with more than just rental assistance and how they can provide the resources to help community members become home owners.

ACCESS' homeownership program is certified by Housing Urban Development or HUD, which is a federal department that oversees housing agencies throughout the country.

ACCESS Housing Director Joe Vollmar said that their homeownership center is designed to help home buyers all across the spectrum, whether someone is buying their first home, needs help maintaining their home or mortgage payments, or owned a home that was lost to wildfire and is looking to buy again.

"What we have to start with is just kind of an intake packet to just gather some information about what their situation is and then we have them come in and work one-on-one with one of our housing counselors and we really get to know what their scenario looks like," Vollmar explains. "So did they have insurance? Do they have proceeds or funding to be able to repurchase or rebuild? Or do they have nothing? Are they in need of any assistance possible to make this happen?

The main goal is to make sure people know what resources and options are out there.

Vollmar also said that assistance doesn't have to stop with just a single program.

"If people do receive rental assistance, but their situation is improving and they want to work towards being a home owner, then that program would refer them over to our Homeownership Center, we would start working with them and we work start helping them towards that goal," Vollmar said. "So they could be working with multiple programs at one time."

Cindy Barnes, an Almeda Fire survivor who lost her Phoenix home of 15 years, received help from ACCESS at many different levels. ACCESS first provided funds so she could live in a motel, where she stayed for six months while she waited for her manufactured home to be built.

"I had looked before the fire and a single-wide was like $41,000, but after the fire, I mean this is the cheapest I could one find and it ended up being $125,000," Barnes said. "It was quite a shock."

Because the house ended up being much more than Barnes anticipated, and she's retired, she needed a little extra help.

Luckily, Barnes was able to apply for a $35,000 forgivable loan through ACCESS which helped bring costs down.

"It was going to end up costing me $350 and on top of the $500 rent, it was more than I could do," Barnes said. "So, with the grant from ACCESS, it brought it down to only $260, so I can do that."

If you're a first time home buyer who wants to apply for down payment assistance, the only requirement is that you complete a homeowner education course. Wildfire survivors just have to complete an intake packet to get started.

Also, Vollmar said that there are no minimum income qualifications required to apply.

"I would encourage anybody who is interested in home ownership or that lost their home in a wildfire and is looking to repurchase, I would encourage them to come work with one of our housing counselors," Vollmar said. "The information, the education they receive, I mean to me it's priceless."

ACCESS can work with anyone, so if you're extremely low income or if you have a higher income, you can contact ACCESS and learn what your options are for homeownership.

For information about ACCESS' Homeownership Center, you can visit their website.