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AHCOPA Hosts home legacy: Empowering Philadelphia Homeowners to Protect their Biggest Asset10/16/2023 More than 170 Philadelphia homeowners attended Home Legacy: Preserving Homeownership and Wealth, on Saturday, October 14, 2023. Home Legacy was a unique event aimed at empowering low-to-moderate income homeowners to preserve their homes and intergenerational wealth. The event was organized by Affordable Housing Centers of PA (AHCOPA) with help from Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS), and sponsored by Wells Fargo. Home Legacy provided homeowners with critical information and resources to protect their most significant asset: their home. Participants engaged with experts on critical topics, including estate planning, tangled titles, the safe use of equity, real estate tax reductions, and accessing affordable home repair programs. I learned a lot about home repairs, how to get funding for projects, how to get equity loans. Mainly, I have an old house and I needed to know how to get work done.” About 60 residents of Delaware County attended AHCOPA's First Time Homebuyer event to learn about down payment assistance programs and other First Time Homebuyer resources available in Delaware County. AHCOPA was joined by representatives from Truist, WSFS, Citizens, and Fulton banks as well as local realtors from the Philadelphia Metropolitan Board of Realtors and Domain Real Estate Group. AHCOPA offers housing counseling services to Delaware County residents. Housing counseling is a valuable, and free, resource for first time homebuyers. Housing counselors work to expertly guide clients through the homebuyer process, including building their credit and navigating the many different lender and mortgage options. Housing counseling helps to break down barriers to homeownership and encourages lower and middle income families to successfully pursue homeownership. AHCOPA celebrated the grand opening of its new office location in West Philadelphia to help residents facing foreclosure and increase homeownership for low and moderate income residents, especially Black communities. Homeownership rates for Black, African American residents have declined in West Philadelphia—by as much as 20% in the past five years— AHCOPA is working to change that. As a trusted community partner and HUD-Certified, non-profit housing counseling agency, AHCOPA is expanding its reach in the greater Philadelphia area to address equitable and affordable homeownership. As a native of West Philadelphia, I am excited about AHCOPA opening this office to make our |