In 2006, Yale New Haven Hospital launched the Home Ownership Made Easier (H.O.M.E.) program, which provides employees with up to $10,000 in forgivable five-year loans to purchase a home in New Haven. Employees who buy in one of four neighborhoods near the hospital are eligible for a monthly $200, two-year mortgage subsidy. Key Bank partners with Yale New Haven Hospital to educate employees about financing and maintenance issues. The H.O.M.E. program has created 140 new homeowners since its inception in New Haven, directly helping to stabilize neighborhoods in a community where less than 30 percent of residents own their home.
Since 2008, YNHH has partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven to create homeownership opportunities in the Hill neighborhood for families. YNHH gives financial support and organizes hospital staff who volunteer to work alongside the homeowners and Habitat construction managers. In this way, YNHH has sponsored and helped build nine Habitat homes in the Hill neighborhood since 2008. Well over 400 employee volunteers have collectively invested more than 6,000 hours in this project, while Yale New Haven Hospital sponsored the building materials for each home, totaling $525,000. This work has increased owner occupancy and civic pride in an area previously plagued by blight and a 77 percent renter population.
