But seven years ago she made a goal for herself — pay off debts, find a full-time job and get a home of her own.
Bingham realized her dream last month, after purchasing a home on Beatrice Drive in Middletown for $65,000. Bingham said she wrote a letter to the Section 8 program stating she no longer needed their assistance.
“It wasn’t easy, but I wrote my goal on a piece of paper and just remembered that God would bless me,” she said. “I said I am going to own my own home because I want to be a good role model for my son.”
Her five-foot-four-inch frame nearly trembled with excitement as she showed off the three-bedroom, two-bath home. Having qualified for a tax credit of $6,500 through the federal stimulus program, she has plans to install a new fence and do some work in the backyard.
An old family Bible, tattered and missing its cover, is laid out prominently on a side table in her living room. Opened to a passage underlined in blue marker is the passage Romans 12:9 — “Hate is evil. Hold on to what is good.”
Such phrases helped her hold onto her dream, even when she was at her lowest.
“God says he will open doors. I wanted a better life for my son. If I died I didn’t want him to have to get out because we didn’t own (our home),” she said.
Getting out of Freedom Court
“Every house she saw she wanted to move into so she could get out of (her apartment at) Freedom Court,” said Bingham’s mother, Cora Dickson. “But she was hard-headed and interested in doing everything she could to do it.”
A single mom living in Section 8 housing with about $4,000 in debts, Bingham’s finally found permanent employment at a manufacturing facility in Franklin. She then enrolled in the Section 8 home ownership program. For five years, the program matched her payments, affording her a $4,000 grant to help for a down payment on a home.
Bingham took the first-time homebuyers class through the city, where she learned how to improve her credit score, shop for a home loan and about the responsibilities of home ownership. For successfully completing the course, she was offered a $3,900 grant for her down-payment and closing costs. Another $5,000 was made available through U.S. Housing and Urban Development.
After a lot of hard work and “a lot of Googling,” Bingham purchased her first home at the end of May, a three-bedroom, two-bath home on Beatrice Drive in Middletown.
“I didn’t want to depend on the system all the time because the system is not always going to be there and you have to follow their rules,” she said. “I wanted to be independent and work while I can and set a good example for my son.”
Her pride of ownership is evident by the cleanly-clipped lawn and neat flower beds that line the house. Bingham beams over the new water heater and air conditioning unit, and relates her dream of further improving the yard.
“I’m just a fighter. And I can’t believe I own a home,” she said.
When her daughter submitted her letter to Section 8 informing the agency she would no longer need their assistance, Dickson said she couldn’t be prouder of all the advise she had taken and hard work she has done.
“We have been through a lot together and I just can’t say enough good things about her,” Dickson said.
Now Bingham is using her experience to teach others, like lifelong friend Ylonda Louis, who also hopes to own a home someday.
“You are never to old to grow up because I came a long way and I am just hoping I can inspire someone else to get off the system and let someone else that needs to get on it,” she said.
Louis said she is grateful for a friend like Bingham and is proud of her efforts.
“It’s the American dream. It takes day by day, step by step,” Louis said. “When you are doing the right thing, you get what you deserve.”
It’s an example Bingham said she hopes other Middletown residents take to heart.
“As a single black woman I never thought this could happen,” she said while gesturing around her living room. “Hard work does pay off. Sometimes you have to start from the bottom, but it works.
”Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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