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Housing program impacts lives of soldiers, surrounding communities

Story by Gena Terlizzi (Contact)

6:06 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Specialist Kristi Green and her husband just bought their first home and they did it with help from the United States Department of Agriculture.

“It's exciting,” she said. “It was nice to be able to say this is my last rent payment for a long, long time.”

The USDA-Fort Riley Regional Initiative is a way for soldiers and their families to secure home loans. In its first year, the program has been successful and is expected to continue to grow in the future.

“It's more than just about finding soldiers a house,” said Col. Thomas Smith, U.S. Army. “It's about helping communities face natural growth.”

So far, the program has helped to secure about $5 million in loans for soldiers like Green.

“Lot's of time soldiers haven't bought a house in another location. They lack the equity and the USDA Regional Development Program is an excellent first time home buyer program for those soldiers and civilians moving to the area,” said Chuck Banks, USDA.

And with the rapid growth of Fort Riley and the surrounding area, simply finding decent housing can be a challenge.

“A lot of the houses around this area are getting to be so expensive so this was helping us in finding what we needed and at the price range we could afford,” Green said.

This initiative is beneficial to both Fort Riley and the surrounding community. It helps the soldiers by putting them in homes and the additional economic development boosts the local economy.