Military Housing Assistance Fund Asks Citizens to Remember Our Military Families

On September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush addressed a joint session of Congress and the American people. He said, “On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars — but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war — but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks — but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day — and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.”

Robert Hanusovsky, Chairman of Military Housing Assistance Fund (MHAF), states, “The terrorist acts on 9/11 changed our country forever. The war in Afghanistan began 23 days later, and the Iraq War began on March 20, 2003. Collectively, these two battlefronts of the War on Terror have caused a great strain on our military families through multiple deployments to harms way by our men and women in uniform. This strain is dramatic in troops on their third and fourth deployments, especially since the length of deployment has been extended to 15 months from 12 months. Our troops are responding heroically in a War on Terror with no end in sight.”

Hanusovsky continues, “As a grateful nation, we can help our military families to become homeowners, thereby giving our troops and their families left back at home some peace of mind.” While 68% of all Americans own their own home, a Rand Corporation Study found that only 27.3% of military families were homeowners. When asked why, nearly half said, “It was because they could not afford to do so.” Military families have availability of a VA loan allowing them to purchase a home with no down payment. The problem is that closing costs can often run as high as $8,000, which can be difficult for military families to save based upon their earnings.

That’s where MHAF comes in. MHAF is a fund of Financial Counselors of America (FCA), a 501(c)3 nonprofit agency, and was founded on September 11, 2004. MHAF is a proud member of the United States Department of Defense’s “America Supports You” network of charitable organizations helping military families. The organization helps military families by providing grants to assist them with the closing costs necessary to purchase a home. These grants average between $1,500 and $5,000 depending on the cost of the home, and the financial need of the military family. MHAF is one of the very few nonprofit agencies that give 100% of the funds it receives to the intended beneficiaries: our military families.

Latrishia Bianani found her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia after transferring into the state. She had this to say about MHAF: “Working with MHAF for the purchase of my new home was a wonderful experience. I lived in a different state than where I was purchasing my home. My real estate agent was very understanding of my situation. He was always professional, knowledgeable, and helpful. By gifting a portion of my closing costs, MHAF saved me a lot of money. I even received a refund on the day of closing for my earnest money deposit. I am thankful to MHAF for making my home buying experience and transition to a new state a pleasure.”

Hanusovsky says, “The popularity and demand for this program is growing. We are doing a lot of deals each week, and currently have a large pipeline of military families waiting to purchase a home. We need America’s help in raising money for this wonderful cause, especially since the federal government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I would like to ask individual Americans and American businesses to remember military families on this historic day by giving them the extra help needed to buy a home. Military Housing Assistance Fund was designed to help military families achieve the American Dream they are defending. You can find out much more about us by visiting our website at http://www.usmhaf.org.”

FCA is a member in good standing of the Better Business Bureau, and is an approved mortgage counselor for both Fannie Mae and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.