Over the last decade, Fannie Mae has made available, through our lender and community partners, funding for minority and underserved Americans to own or rent a home as part of our American Dream Commitment. Through our continuing dedication to increasing homeownership opportunities for minority home buyers, Larryette Magett and others like her can live the American Dream.

The American Home Buyer
The fastest growing groups of home buyers are minorities, families of modest means, new Americans, and other underserved individuals and families -- many with very little wealth and complicated job and financial histories. According to Fannie Mae's 2003 National Homeownership Survey (PDF), these groups face challenges when it comes to having access to accurate information about the home-buying process.

Everyday Fannie Mae and its housing partners strive to expand homeownership opportunities for millions of Americans. Helping minorities turn their hopes and dreams into the reality of owning a home is at the heart of Fannie Mae's mission.

Our Partnerships
We can't achieve these goals without our partners. Fannie Mae works with local governments, lenders, public officials, housing organizations, community nonprofits, real estate professionals, and others across the country to create long-term partnerships to help create minority homeownership opportunities. As part of our American Dream Commitment, Fannie Mae has launched collaborative relationships with such groups as the National Association of Home Builders to expand "Workforce Housing" by pledging to increase the supply of affordable housing where it is needed most. Specifically, this partnership targets the revitalization of 1,000 communities across the country.

Fannie Mae also continues to create community-based lending opportunities by working through organizations including the National Urban League (NUL) and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).

Fannie Mae's Initiatives and Products
With the knowledge that one of the primary challenges that many minority and new immigrant families face in the homeownership process is access to reliable information and guidance, Fannie Mae developed Home Counselor Online^TM, an innovative software tool we share with homeowner educators and other housing professionals so they can help low- and moderate-income families financially prepare for homeownership. By empowering housing professionals with technology tools, we help to remove the barriers to homeownership.

At Fannie Mae, we have created a wide-range of affordable housing solutions that enable our lending partners to grow their businesses while expanding services to underserved communities and emerging markets.

Fannie Mae is also the largest investor in minority banks in the country. Our Community Development Financial Institutions Initiative continues to strengthen America's communities by providing investment capital to community-focused financial institutions. These groups, typically serving central cities, work to increase housing opportunities for underserved markets. In fact, under the American Dream Commitment, Fannie Mae has committed to increase its CDFI investments to $150 million by the end of the decade. We also continue to work with members of the National Bankers Association to help break down the obstacles to minority homeownership.

Fannie Mae Looks to the Future
The desire to own a home remains a powerful force that drives the American economy. Simply put, the prospect of buying and owning a home creates feelings of optimism about a family’s financial future, about the viability of their community, and the overall strength of our nation. Only in America is it possible for an average wage earner to bring the dream of homeownership to fruition. And, only in America does this basic dream translate into the mighty financial force that helps to revive our cities, equalize opportunity, and drive a healthy economy.

Fannie Mae and its housing partners strive everyday to protect and expand the American Dream of homeownership for minorities. Housing powers our economy and creates millions of jobs. Owning a home offers real wealth for millions. And for others who cannot or choose not to own, the housing system strives to provide them with quality, affordable rental housing -- an apartment that an individual or family is proud to call home.

Throughout our years of commitment to tackling the toughest housing problems, Fannie Mae and our housing partners have demonstrated our resolve that the best housing delivery system in the world can and must do much more.