Current Projects of the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership


Home Buyer Education


Julie with Clients
Julie Clark with clients
The Sioux Empire Housing Partnership’s award-winning homebuyer education program has assisted thousands of individuals and families with homebuyer education and financial counseling to guide them through the home buying process, eliminate some of the fear and anxiety of buying and to become more confident homebuyers. Lenders, Real Estate Agents and the business community have recognized the importance of SEHP’s education programs.

Many local lenders offer incentives for their buyers to attend homebuyer education through Sioux Empire Housing Partnership prior to buying a home. Further, the local title companies support our education programs by offering an additional discount on fees for those buyers who complete pre-purchase homebuyer education programs exclusively through Sioux Empire Housing Partnership.

Through the Education Department, Sioux Empire Housing Partnership provides one-on-one pre-purchase counseling and education, money management counseling, pre-foreclosure counseling and credit and debt management strategies. Working one-on-one with individuals and families, we provide guidance through the entire home buying process, addressing and identifying a buyer's unique needs and fears as well as establishing a financial plan unique to each borrower's situation. We provide support to help potential homeowners gain more confidence in themselves and the buying process, to repair credit, and to set up manageable budgets to ensure long term financial success even after the purchase of a home.

SEHP’s Education Center also provides outreach education to local business, nonprofits and colleges. SEHP has also been instrumental in forming the Employee Mortgage Assistance Program (EMAP), partnering with area businesses to assist more employees with their down payment and closing costs.

Hayward Meadows
Hayward Meadows
Governor's House in Hayward Meadows
Hayward Meadows is our newest development that will house a combination of multifamily and single family homes. It is located near 5th Street and Marion Road and will have a bike trail and green space that will go directly from the housing development to Hayward Elementary School. Development has begun with homes available for sale. Each prospective home buyer will have to meet income guidelines and attend a homebuyer education course through SEHP.

It is the goal of the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership to continue to offer affordable homes to first-time homebuyers. As we seek alternative methods to do this, Hayward Meadows will prove to be a prime area to venture into new forms of completing our mission.

One of the new programs that SEHP is excited about is the lease/purchase program. SEHP has partnered with South Dakota Housing Development Authority to construct Governor's Homes in Hayward Meadows with a three year lease/purchase option available to include qualified homebuyers. A portion of the monthly lease payment is set aside specifically to be applied as a down payment towards the purchase of the home at the end of the lease. This program allows individuals and families with poor credit to improve their credit score, thus qualifying for a home loan through a financial institution. Please call (605) 339-0492 or e-mail sehp@siouxfalls.com for further information.

Affordable Housing Resource Centers


One of the services that the Partnership provides is assistance with identifying current affordable housing needs and planning for future affordable housing in your community. The Affordable Housing Resource Center program has been made possible through a grant from the Citi Foundation. The Citi grant affords the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership the ability to establish in communities within the MSA of Sioux Falls affordable housing resource centers whose activities will be directed towards affordable housing for low- to moderate-income families. A website has been designed that will develop and compile available data to help the communities with he purchase of land for the development of affordable housing projects, for revitalization projects of depressed neighborhoods, foreclosed properties through public/private partnerships and linked to the websites for South Dakota Housing Development Authority, HUD, Southeastern Council of Governments, USDA and other organizations. For the first-time homebuyer the center would have material available to address down payment assistance, for local banks on grants available from the Federal Home Loan Bank, employer assistance down payment programs and other options that may help with the purchase of an affordable home. The primary focus of the centers is that funds would be directed towards affordable housing. When completed, these centers will be solely owned and maintained by the communities themselves.

CHDO


In 2010, the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership addressed the issue of becoming a CHDO (Community Housing Development Organization). A CHDO is a private nonprofit, community-based, service organization that has, or intends to obtain, staff with the capacity to develop affordable housing for the community it serves. As a CHDO, the organization would have the opportunity to apply for HOME funds provided by HUD to the participating jurisdiction(s) which would improve its overall capacity to develop affordable housing. This is another avenue that the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership, serving as the sponsor agency for the CHDO, would be able to assist the low- to moderate-income individual in obtaining affordable home ownership.