{"id":275017,"date":"2025-12-15T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/?p=275017"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:39:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:39:04","slug":"arkansas-agency-empowers-low-income-residents-to-become-first-time-homebuyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/arkansas-agency-empowers-low-income-residents-to-become-first-time-homebuyers\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas Agency Empowers Low-Income Residents to Become First-Time Homebuyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

As homeownership in the US gets less accessible, the Mississippi County, Arkansas Economics Opportunity Commission, Inc. (MCAEOC) is empowering its rural community members to become homeowners and build economic security by way of their support services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MCAEOC is one of 15 community action agencies in the state that were established under the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act, which carries out social programs aimed at combating poverty. The organization is also a US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved housing counseling agency that provides financial education services for Mississippi County residents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MCAEOC also offers Head Start early childhood educational programs for families as well as utility bills and food assistance programs. Its housing department helps residents find affordable rental housing, supports first-time homebuyers and helps families build affordable homes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Building generational wealth through homeownership\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Davida Brown is MCAEOC\u2019s HUD-certified housing counselor and leads the agency\u2019s first-time homebuyer workshops, which help program participants gain economic stability and prepare them for the responsibilities of homeownership. Her workshops take a holistic approach to financial literacy by focusing on credit recovery, budgeting, money management, debt counseling and wealth creation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHalf my clients don’t know how to write a check [or] the definition of a savings account, so for me, it starts off with financial literacy,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt’s very important to me that I explain to them\u2026 that these are all of the elements that come in when you’re purchasing a house and the importance behind it and [how to] sustain it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Empowering residents to succeed\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Through the workshops,<\/span> MCAEOC<\/span><\/a> has helped 64 families buy their first home over the past three years. In 2024, the organization helped 10 families achieve their dream of first-time homeownership. As a result of the financial education they received in the workshops, participants had not only bought a home, but improved their credit scores and many have gone on to achieve other life goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey become encouraged to go on and do greater things like going back to school or seeking new employment opportunities in a different field,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Impact through partnership<\/b><\/h3>\n

MCAEOC is a member of <\/span>NCRC\u2019s Housing Counseling Network<\/span><\/a>, which provides support, technical assistance and subgrant opportunities for housing counseling agencies. The network currently has 24 agencies and helps facilitate network-building among members and fosters shared learning between agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown noted that NCRC\u2019s partnership has helped MCAEOC support more families with achieving their dreams of becoming first-time homeowners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNCRC has been very supportive throughout this journey,\u201d Brown said. \u201c[They] made it easy for us [to secure] funding to be able to support our housing department.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Ridel is a Contributing Writer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of the MCAEOC team.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As homeownership in the US gets less accessible, the Mississippi County, Arkansas Economics Opportunity Commission, Inc. (MCAEOC) is empowering its rural community members to become homeowners and build economic security by way of their support services.\u00a0 MCAEOC is one of 15 community action agencies in the state that were established under the 1964 Economic Opportunity 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(MCAEOC) is empowering its rural community members to become homeowners and build economic security by way of their support services.\u00a0 MCAEOC is one of 15 community action agencies in the state that were established under the 1964 Economic Opportunity…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}