By Pam Horne, for the Williamson Herald
news@williamsonherald.com

Boxes neatly line the walls of Shanita Beech’s Ashley Court apartment.
The packing is complete, the closing is set and a brand new home in the Hard Bargain Mount Hope Redevelopment (HBMHR) community awaits another first-time buyer.
“I’m so ready,” exclaimed this 29-year-old mother of first-grade twin boys. “I just love it. I can’t wait to move in.”
Beech, a fifth-generation Williamson County resident and graduate of Centennial High School, could share a few pointers on focus and discipline.
Several years of working hard, saving money and studying how to create and manage a family budget has finally yielded a lifetime of dividends for Beech and her two 6-year-olds.
It was a co-worker at CIGNA HealthCare in Cool Springs who first told her about a homebuyer’s class offered in Nashville. 
She quickly learned that the same class was available near her home in Franklin.
Enter GAP Community Development, a local not-for-profit program certified by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Tennessee Housing and Development Agency.
The Franklin group’s mission is to educate and assist first-time homebuyers.
Becoming a homeowner is no small undertaking, noted Teresa Burns, GAPCD executive director, but many people dive in without any real training.
“It’s really like driving a car. You have to have a driver’s license to drive,.” Burns said. “(GAPCD) educates people on how to buy a house.”
The goal is to “bridge people to neighborhoods.”
Enter HBMHR, a grassroots organization committed to the revitalization of one of Franklin’s oldest traditionally African-American neighborhoods.
While HBMHR invests (through private donations) in land acquisition and home construction, Brant Bousquet, HBMHD development director, adds that his governing board relies on GAP to identify potential buyers like Beech.
 “We want people to invest in the community and see it as a long-term home,” he said, emphasizing that HBMHR is looking for buyers who are committed to “sinking down roots in the neighborhood.”
The air of excitement in the Beech home this week is a testament, Bousquet suggested, to what can happen when like-minded people in a community join hands to accomplish what individuals may not be able to do alone.
Last Saturday, a crowd of Green Street residents, supporters of HBMHR, and Beech’s relatives gathered to cut the ribbon on the two-story, Craftsman-style home constructed under the watchful eye of award-winning builder David Crane.
Crane is also a longtime HBMHR board member who volunteers his expertise to ensure that a quality home is created.
“We are thrilled for Shanita and her boys to be able to purchase their home and for Shanita to achieve the dream of homeownership,” Bousquet said.
Beech says she has longed to provide her sons Savion and Solathus with their very own yard.
During an early morning drive to work and school, Beech felt a tug on her heart when Savion inquired about the house they will soon call home. At the time of this conversation, the youngster had no idea his family might one day qualify to purchase the dwelling.
“Mom, that’s going to be somebody’s house,” Savion confidently told his mother. “Mom,” he pressed further, “I wonder whose house that’s going to be?”
For information being involved in the HBMHD visit hardbargain.org.  To learn more about upcoming courses available at GAPCD, located on Fowlkes Street, visit gapcdr.org.

 

Posted on: 11/13/2008