Bronx —
Home ownership rates in the U.S. have steadily declined since 2004, according to 2012 U.S. Census Data. At just under 54 percent home ownership, New York has the lowest rate of any state in the country.
The CityLift program, a collaboration between Wells Fargo Bank and New York Housing Services (NHSNYC), aims to change those numbers. The program helped the Miah family and 132 others become first time homeowners in the Bronx, where less than one out of every five families own homes. The program aids qualifying families in the Bronx, Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey by providing forgivable loans for initial down payments on home mortgages.