Students graduate from Family Self-Sufficiency Program

Twenty-three women graduated from the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, a program through the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VIII.

FSS is a program that enables HUD-assisted families to increase their earned income and reduce their dependency on welfare assistance and rental subsidies.

For the past several years, the participants entered into various community colleges and trade schools to help benefit themselves and their families.

The program allows the participants to learn financial literacy to help them save funds to transition from section 8 to becoming homeowners. Executive Director Justin Brooks said, “Family Self-Sufficiency program is open to any of our program participants who participate in our housing choice voucher or any of our other flagship programs. Each participant in that program develops a five-year plan that is designed to take them from where they are in life today to no longer being reliable or dependent on any assistance whatsoever. So, that plan is a little different for each person because it is tailored to their specific needs.”

All the participants graduated with a savings balance upwards of $10,000. They received a certificate, their saving check, and a graduation gift.