Agency that aided first-time homebuyers set to close

After nine years of helping first-time homebuyers with down payments and low-income families pay for home repairs, the Lowcountry Community Development Corp. is closing, the former executive director said.

Joan Mustard said funding sources dried up and she was placed on a furlough in June to give the corporation's board time to review its financial situation. Board members are responsible for raising money, she said.

In September the board decided it could no longer operate the agency, although an exact closing date has not been decided, Mustard said.

Board member Charles Sampson declined comment. He said there is a board meeting next week.

The nonprofit group was created in 1998 with the help of the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry. It has provided residents in Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Colleton and Allendale counties with grants for home purchases and repairs. Those grants were funded through private donations, local governments and state agencies.

The group operated on a $157,000 annual budget, which paid for Mustard's salary and a part-time associate, along with rent, office supplies and homebuyer education, personal financial development and foreclosure-prevention programs, Mustard said.

The homebuyer education program is scheduled to continue through December and will likely not be affected, Mustard said. Residents who still need other services will have to go to the Charleston-area CDC, she said.

The executive director of the Charleston group, Lenore McKenna, said new classes will begin in February, and Beaufort County residents would be helped as much as possible.

As of October, about 1,750 residents had graduated from the Lowcountry CDC homebuyer education course. Of those, the group has helped 185 residents afford more than $2 million in down payments to purchase homes in the area.

It also has paid for more than $900,000 in home repairs for 86 residents.

"I don't think the community realizes yet what a loss this is going to be," Mustard said. "We helped people buy existing housing stock, helped elderly preserve housing stock they couldn't afford to repair. ... I guess we have fulfilled the role of a CDC. It's up to the community now to decide which programs are valuable enough to continue."