DAVIDSON HOUSING COALITION

Kathy McCoy, standing at the door of her new home, is proud to call it her own. She and her twin teenage boys love their home and community.

Kathy McCoy is a single parent of two active twin teen boys. In June of 2016, she was referred to DHC by a fellow Community School teacher who had purchased a home with the help of DHC. Kathy came into DHC wanting to become a homeowner; she was immediately interested in the townhomes being built in Bradford. As is true with many single parents, she had limited funds to turn her dream into reality. Some of her income was not part of her teaching position, and she had to establish a precise and detailed paper trail in order for the lender to include it as income. Kathy found out about the need for this paper trail a week before her scheduled closing date.

Fortunately, the builder was very easy to work with and Kathy was allowed to rent her beautiful new townhome for three months until the lender was ready to close. During this time, Kathy worked closely with Gail to improve her credit and revise her budget. Kathy closed on her home in April of 2017. It was a long haul for Kathy, but she was steadfast in working toward her goal of becoming a homeowner.

During her journey to homeownership, Kathy found DHC’s counselor, Gail Brooks-Lemkin, extremely helpful. Gail was Kathy’s biggest cheerleader during the whole process; she advocated for Kathy and was a wealth of knowledge about available resources that could help her. Down payment assistance through the Town of Davidson also helped Kathy be able to afford her home. Otherwise, she didn’t have the money for a down payment, and was stuck in a cycle of paying rent so high that it was hard to save for one. Currently, Kathy and her sons are happy in their home. All along, she wanted her kids to feel like it was really home and that is exactly what the townhouse has become.

Her sons are graduating from high school, and will attend North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Kathy loves her friendly neighbors along her street. Recently, she received and passed on a “neighbor plate” with homemade goodies as a way to get to know her neighbors. She also loves the proximity of downtown Davidson; she enjoys catching the trolley (the stop is located right down the street) for downtown Davidson so she can enjoy walking around with friends.