MESA (Arizona Republic) December 18, 2004 - They just keep coming, we keep saying.

So it seems that half the world's population wants to share in the American dream on this big brown spot in the Sonoran desert and keep our housing economy churning.

But many of them won't be able to participate in that dream without our assistance.

"I can't think of an industry here that attracts more attention than housing," said Teresa Brice-Heames, Mesa resident and authority on the subject. "Housing contributes to one-third of our economy," she added, quoting from a recent series in The Arizona Republic that gauged the regional economic impact of the Phoenix housing industry.

Yet for the glowing image of all the new stucco and tile, it presents challenges to Brice-Heames and Housing For Mesa, the private, non-profit agency she founded to find affordable homes each year for scores of low-income residents and prepare them for home ownership.

"At first blush people say why should we contribute to an endeavor with the image of economic success," she said. "The answer is that not everyone is sharing in that boom."

Since Heames incorporated HFM in 1988, the agency's budgets have grown from $250,000 with permanent financing from one lender to $4 million with loans coming from seven institutions.

Today the agency not only acquires housing for low-income families but provides a comprehensive range of services, including new construction and housing rehabilitation, homeowner training and technical assistance.

Despite that expansion, demand still exceeds supply. Applicants keep pouring increasingly through the agency's doors in downtown Mesa like all of those newcomers converging on our desert.

During HFM's first three years of operation it acquired six to eight homes each year for low-income families. Production tripled in 1992 and today the agency provides an average of 20 homes a year while educating 600 households in the responsibilities of home ownership and counsels about 100 families.

"Last year we were only able to develop 18 units of housing," Brice-Heames said. "This year our funding sources and cities have realized that we need to get people into housing while it's available. So in the first six months we already have acquired 23 properties."

"It's not our job to make sure everybody buys a home," she explained. "Not everybody is prepared. Our job is to help people identify for themselves the barriers to owning a home and overcome those barriers. We provide an environment where people feel secure, yet we make sure they know what they are taking on."

Eligible families must earn between 50 to 80 percent of Mesa's median income based on family size and have $2,000 for down payment and closing costs. But challenges never stop. As home values keep rising in the boom cycle more and more people are pushed out of eligibility for home ownership through conventional lenders.

"Home values in Mesa rose 16 percent in 12 months while personal income, if you're lucky, increased three percent," Brice-Heames said. "Sure, somebody will give you a loan with balloon payments, maybe 18 percent interest. One of our primary steps is to make sure that families most vulnerable to predatory lending practices are educated and understand what it means to take on the responsibility of owning a home."

One proud accomplishment by HFM homeowners is their record of helping build sustainable neighborhoods.

"All of our families are required to attend post-purchase education sessions," she said. "They have experienced the most expensive investment of their lives and somebody is going to be there to help them out whether it be learning about code compliance, how to fix a leaky faucet or set up a Block Watch in their neighborhood."

"Unlike the majority of homeowners, our families are not selling their homes after living in them for three to five years," Brice-Heames said.

Success stories keep coming.

"Like the woman who came to the United States from Scotland in the '70s and bought her very first home on Wednesday," Brice-Heames said. "There were tears of joy in our offices."