Unique program creates community and camaraderie
A room full of laughter, guidance, and learning. That’s what one finds at a Duke Homebuyers Club meeting. The cohort comprises Duke employees as diverse as one can imagine. Different occupations, different backgrounds, different hometowns, different goals and preferences. And yet there remains an essence of personal care and community in meeting spaces, as members advise and assist each other as much as the facilitators and speakers.
The Duke Homebuyers Club is an innovative program offered through Duke Community Affairs (DCA) that connects Duke employees and their families with financial literacy resources, one-on-one counseling, and housing resources to promote first-time home ownership. While the program was launched to provide employees with financial information, it has grown into a unique community of members connecting and supporting each other. That’s a good thing since with the median home price in Durham rising to $450k in 2024, the Club’s support is becoming increasingly necessary for more employees.
Since 2013, Homebuyers Club members have bought 67 homes, completed 3,006 hours of education, and been awarded 301 HUD certificates.
Honing monthly sessions to build a full skillset
Over time, the Club has found setting a maximum of 60 members for each annual cycle, which runs from March to December, provides the best member experience and impact. The Club partners with Community Empowerment Fund and Reinvestment Partners to provide monthly sessions on topics such as budgeting, building and repairing credit, and working with realtors.
Without the information and support the Club provides, first-time home ownership can be daunting. As one member remarked,“It’s too much stuff to think about and I’m so busy already.”
The Club aims to help employees with 80% and below Area Median Income (AMI), which is the population that qualifies for HUD programs, certificates, and benefits.
Members who complete an eHome America course online are eligible for a certificate from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that allows potential homebuyers to qualify for below-market-rate housing assistance programs
“Iterating has been crucial to the success of Homebuyers Club.”
Eliza Mathew, Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development, Duke Community Affairs
Expanding the program to two phases
The Homebuyers Club is often the beginning of the extensive process of purchasing a home. Recognizing this, in 2024, the Club introduced a two-phase system, with 30 members per class. This way, newcomers learn together in phase one, while more advanced members cover more in-depth lessons in phase two. In addition, each member is assigned a housing counselor from Reinvestment Partners to help them with their specific needs.
Camille, a Phase 2 member of the Club, confided that “it can be scary” to go about the process of purchasing a home on your own. Camille originally found out about the Homebuyers Club in an email from the university and has been in the program for approximately a year. The program has filled the knowledge gap that so many, like Camille, feel makes the homebuying process near impossible. Another Homebuyers Club member, Stacie Daye, shared her journey here.
“At the end of the day we are moving you towards home ownership,” says facilitator Autrice Campbell Long.
New interactive teaching tools and materials
Eliza Mathew, Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development for Duke Community Affairs (DCA), has been focused on finding ways to ensure that the content presented at each meeting is beneficial to varied levels of background knowledge and that housing certificates remain accessible for members.
“The Durham housing landscape and the profile of our typical member has changed significantly since 2013 when this Club was launched,” said Mathew. “At the center of our process is responding to what our member’s identify as their top needs and what they say isn’t working anymore. We adapt by providing avenues of education, access, and connection within those lanes.”
DCA’s Housing and Homebuyers Club intern, Dominique Barrett, worked over the summer to develop new interactive, educational tools for members to use during their sessions. These new resources are expected to be made available on the DCA website alongside the already-available worksheets and podcast recordings. The new tools were rolled out on a meeting-by-meeting basis. At the July meeting, Barrett’s printed resources included references to the previous month’s meeting topic, “Mortgage 101,” and a new scavenger hunt activity for the members to complete on Zillow. The sheets review the key concepts related to meeting topics and enable members to apply their new learning in real time.
With new tools and a renewed focus on personal impact, the Duke Homebuyers Club is continuing to discover new ways to help Duke employees on their path to becoming first-time home owners.
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