| September 16, 2009 | Vol 11. No. 2 |
The NetGazette features profiles of new and current faculty, staff and administrators. If you have an idea for a Canisius profile, please send an E-mail to Kristin Etu '91, NetGazette editor, at etuk@canisius.edu.
Canisius EAH Program Assists Record Number of Employees in 2009
Roberto M. Gregorius, PhD, associate professor of adolescence education, and his wife, Kristina Church, in front of their home on Bedford Place in North Buffalo, which they purchased through the EAH program.
During the first eight months of 2009, the Canisius College Employer Assisted Housing (EAH) Program helped six college employees realize the dream of home ownership. That’s more than any other year in the program’s seven-year history, according to John J. Hurley, executive vice president and vice president for college relations, who developed the Canisius EAH Program.
“The income tax incentive for first-time home buyers, which is part of the president’s economic stimulus package, and low mortgage rates, brought on by the sluggish economy, have caused an increase in our normal EAH Program activity,” says Hurley.
The Canisius EAH is structured as a forgivable loan program in which loans are made to qualified employees to assist with down payments and closing costs for residences in eligible neighborhoods. The loan is forgiven over five years, at the rate of 20 percent per year, provided the employee remains employed at Canisius.
Since its inception in 2002, 24 employees have purchased homes with EAH assistance. These transactions have involved $3.5 million worth of real estate in the city of Buffalo, according to Hurley. Canisius College’s total monetary commitment equals $141,600 to date. Participants have included 12 faculty members, nine administrators, one administrative associate, one facilities management employee and one public safety officer.
“To have this program in place at Canisius is a clear statement by the college that says as a school located in the city of Buffalo, we welcome you into our community, and here is some money to support you with that,” notes Roberto M. Gregorius, PhD, associate professor of adolescence education.
Gregorius joined the college’s faculty in fall 2008 and is among those who benefited from EAH in 2009. He and his wife, Kristina Church, purchased a home on Bedford Avenue in June, and enjoy the community atmosphere that city life offers.
“We walk to Delaware Park, church, the co-op and to other shops on Elmwood,” says Gregorius, who also walks two miles to Canisius each work day. “You feel more connected to your neighborhood because you meet people as you walk to your destination.”
(right to left) Richard A. Bailey, PhD, assistant professor of history, with his three-year old son, Lucas, and wife, Leanne, in the back yard of their Robie Avenue home in the city’s Parkside District.
Close proximity to the college was also a high priority to Assistant Professor of History Richard A. Bailey, PhD, when he came to Canisius from the University of Kentucky in fall 2008. He inquired about EAH during the hiring process and purchased his home soon after.
“I wanted to be able to bike to work but from our home on Robie Avenue, it’s only four tenths of a mile to Canisius,” says Bailey. “By the time I get the bike out, it’s quicker to walk!”
He has discovered that a large number of faculty from Canisius and other area colleges also live in his neighborhood.
“You have this built-in community with EAH because it encourages people to settle near the college,” says Bailey. “My wife Leanne and I were able to buy a home much sooner than we otherwise would have. Parkside also has a similar feel to the area where we lived in Kentucky.”
While Hurley acknowledges that one of the goals in the creation of the program was to help relieve the campus parking situation, he says EAH has become a useful tool in recruitment of high-quality faculty from around the country.
“Every person who walks to work is one less car that we have on campus and it fits in well with today’s emphasis on the ‘green’ movement,” says Hurley. “We have also found that most new faculty will raise the EAH incentive as a key consideration as to why they are interested in Canisius and in coming to Buffalo.”
An employee who purchases a one or two-family home as his/her primary residence in one of three target neighborhoods, the Parkside Community Historic District, the Hamlin Park Historic District or a portion of the Linwood-Oxford area; is eligible for an enhanced loan benefit (10 percent of the purchase price or $7,000, whichever is less).
Hurley says that the college decided to expand the EAH Program boundaries in December 2008 “in order to open it up to the entire population of employees and into neighborhoods that were a bit more affordable.”
Four of the 2009 transactions have been in the expanded territory. The expanded program includes portions of the Delaware, North and University Districts, beginning with Hertel Avenue to Kenmore Avenue on the north, Elmwood Avenue on the west and Parkside Avenue on the east. The EAH downtown extension includes the areas of the Delaware, Ellicott, Fillmore and Niagara Districts. Five percent of the purchase price or $5,000, whichever is less, is available for qualified employees in these areas.
Click here for maps of the Canisius College EAH target, expanded and enhanced areas.
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| Andalyn M. Courtney, director of creative services, and her husband, Dave, in the dining room of their Winston Avenue home; where they often like to entertain friends and family. |
“We love the character of city homes,” says Courtney. “It’s a wonderful feeling to now have something to call our own.” She adds that Hurley was very involved in the entire process to ensure that she received the EAH benefit.
“I felt that he had a vested interest in my success, as well as the program’s success,” says Courtney. “Many employers offer benefits that sound great on paper but never work out. But with EAH, that is absolutely not the case.”
Another North Buffalo resident, Public Safety Officer Scott H. Becker, bought his home on Taunton Place after EAH’s expansion.
Scott H. Becker, officer for public safety, takes a break from raking his Taunton Place lawn.
“I had been saving for awhile to buy a house,” says Becker. “When the tax credit was offered for first-time homebuyers through the stimulus package, someone told me about EAH. Things moved pretty quickly after that.” Becker moved to Buffalo from the Town of Tonawanda.
He says that in his line of work, having a 10-minute commute is ideal.
“I work a lot of 16-hour shifts in public safety or can get called in to work at the last minute,” he says. “It’s also nice to just drive down the street and be home.”
Hurley says he considers the EAH Program a success because the 24 families and individuals otherwise might not have bought a home in the city if not for its assistance. If other institutions, businesses or organizations follow suit and create a similar program, he says, there would be visible positive change in the city of Buffalo.
“People in the city get frustrated because everyone thinks, ‘we are so helpless against poverty, taxes, crime and bankrupt government,’” adds Hurley, “But we are not helpless. We can do big things and we can do little things. As a leader in the city of Buffalo, Canisius has gone out and made an unconditional investment and captured people’s imagination.”
The Canisius College EAH program was the first of its kind in the area and serves as a model to other area institutions, including the State University of New York at Buffalo and D’Youville College.
To learn more about the Canisius EAH Program, click here.