Public Employee Press

Municipal Employees Housing Program
Member is on DC 37's path to her dream house

Kimberly Perez is in line to buy a new home through the union's housing initiative.

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

The early bird catches the worm.

But in Emergency Medical Technician Kimberly Perez’s case, the bird is also looking for a new nest.

Perez was searching for a way to ­afford a home in a safe neighborhood for herself and her 6-year-old son, Ezron. As an Emergency Medical Technician and DC 37 member since 1995, she works hard and takes all the overtime a single parent can handle. She has managed to save a few thousand dollars, which waits in a certificate of deposit account.

For the last four years, Perez has spent part of her days off in search of a home. And despite New York City’s dearth of affordable housing and abundance of over-inflated rentals, she has not lost hope.

“I dream of owning a home with a backyard where my son can play,” Perez said. “When I read in the PEP about the new DC 37 housing program I said, ‘God, my prayers are answered.’ ”

When the union’s new Municipal Employees Housing Program was ­announced, Perez was the first DC 37 member torespond and was in the first group toattend an MEHP seminar.

The program, which provides credit counseling, mortgage services and grants of up to $20,000 for first-time homebuyers, received 320 inquiries in its first two days. MEHP‘s 5 percent preference for lottery apartments throughout the city has recently expanded to include members of Off-Track Betting Corp. Employees ­Local 2021.

MEHP has already helped eight union families enter contracts on new homes; they are now close to closing, which is the official transfer of ownership to the new family. Almost 80 DC 37 members have gotten mortgage loans pre-approved; they are now looking for houses. And hundreds of others are moving rapidly through the steps of the MEHP program.

Perez’s $38,000 annual salary excludes her from federal Section 8 aid and similar programs, and she has learned that a two-bedroom apartment for under $1,000 is nonexistent in New York City. But as soon as some paperwork is cleared up, she and Ezron may be among the first DC 37 families to move into a new home with help from the union program.

Getting credit
“I don’t make a lot of money,” admits the Local 2507 member. “Now I believe for the first time that home ownership will really be within my reach.” After reviewing her application, the MEHP counselors were able to help Perez ­obtain a HomeFirst grant that she will use toward her down payment.

Twice the victim of identity theft, in 1995 and 1998, that left her $18,000 in debt, Perez got help from DC 37’s Municipal Employees Legal Service to correct her credit history.

And further counseling from MEHP helped her to get in good financial shape. Perez maintains a good credit score by paying her bills on time. Perez was homeless for three months after her landlord sold the two-family house she lived in. He gave no notice.

“I came home from my shift and all my belongings were stacked in the yard,” she said. “My life’s been off course for a very long time. I want a place of my own where no one can throw me out.”

Perez keeps a clean, neat apartment in a barred Bushwick basement where sewage backup is a frequent problem. Crime is also an issue. She worries about the drug dealers, gangs and random shootings that make her neighborhood unsafe: “I want something better for my child, a place where he can ­enjoy a sense of freedom and safety that I don’t have now. I want to be able to come home without looking over my shoulder.”

Perez toured new homes in the new 127-acre ­development called Arverne by the Sea, a freshly built community of condominiums and two-family houses in Far Rockaway, Queens, with the Atlantic Ocean for a backyard. Arverne by the Sea is one of several affordable housing projects on MEHP’s affordable housing lottery list.

“I have hoped, saved and sacrificed for my dream house. This union program is my ticket; it will make my dream possible. I have been through enough pain, I need a piece of the pie.” Perez took another breath of sea air, squinted into the sun and added, “I need that moment to exhale.”