Giving Families a Lift Home

Quintus Johnson and his wife, Cassandra, have built their careers on serving others. Quintus is an officer with the Leland, Mississippi, Police Department and Cassandra is a school teacher. But when the Johnsons were ready to buy a home for themselves and their four little girls, their lack of a substantial down payment made traditional lenders hesitant to serve them.
 
“Time after time, we were disappointed,” Quintus says. “If we could afford it, the neighborhood wasn’t right. If the neighborhood was right, we could never get the financing. We had looked for such a long time, my wife had given up hope. We had decided we’d just have to keep renting or settle for something that wasn’t what we really wanted.”

Then a partnership between HOPE and the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT program made the Johnsons’ dream of homeownership a reality. The program offers down payment grants to first-time homebuyers, and in a show of gratitude for their service, offers even more generous assistance to first responders like Quintus Johnson. Homebuyers agree to stay in the home for five years; the balance to be repaid drops each year and after five years, is forgiven completely.

“The attitude from NeighborhoodLIFT and HOPE was all hands on deck, ready to help us in every way,” Quintus says. “And once they were on board, it all fell into place.”

In May of 2019, the Johnsons moved into a three-bedroom, two-bath home in a family-friendly neighborhood in Greenville, Mississippi. The house offers wide hallways for their four little girls to run down, a big yard for the family to play in, and the joy that comes from knowing they have finally come home.

“When we saw this house, we knew it was home,” Quintus says. “It’s an awesome feeling to know that your hard-earned money is going to pay for something that is yours. This house is perfect for us, a blessing. It was a long-awaited journey with some obstacles along the way, but thanks to HOPE and NeighborhoodLIFT, we made it home.”

“It’s an awesome feeling to know that your hard-earned money is going to pay for something that is yours,” Quintus Johnson says. “This house is perfect for us, a blessing. It was a long-awaited journey with some obstacles along the way, but thanks to HOPE and NeighborhoodLIFT,
we made it home.”