Allied Churches Teaching Self-Empowerment Community Development Corporation (ACTS CDC)

Buy a Home, Build a Community

ACTS' Impact in Milwaukee

ACTS was founded by a group of congregants from St. Michael Church in 1992. The parishioners focused on homeownership to better stabilize the neighborhood and reduce crime. Since this initiative began, ACTS has assisted over 1,200 low to moderate income families acquire their own home in the central city of Milwaukee. ACTS also provided homeowners with rehab loans and professional rehab advice for over 460 essential home improvement projects.

These results reflect ACTS’ mission, which is to increase affordable homeownership and improve central city housing stock through affordable rehab. Supporting low-income families in these ways builds their ability to be self-empowered, and increases the viability of central city neighborhoods.

In 2009, ACTS

Sold 78 homes, managed 35 rehab projects, sold 1 vacant lot and guided over $6.4 Million of investment into Milwaukee.
Assisted with 53 foreclosure sales, returning vacant, blighted, and bank or government-owned properties to responsible occupancy.
Helped a diverse group of participants who are mostly existing residents of our church neighborhoods who choose to purchase their first home: Asian (25%), Black (11%), Latino (52%), and White (11%).
Helped lower-income families with an average combined household income of $36,400 per year, or about half the county median income, while keeping the important housing-to-income ratio of homebuyers at an average 22% of income.
Maintained our goal of helping large families with an average of 4 person households.

See our 2009 Production Summary Report (PDF)

From 1992-2009, ACTS assisted over 1,200 households with a home purchase and managed over 460 rehab jobs. During this time $82.6 million was invested in purchases and repairs.
ACTS helps low income residents take advantage of the benefits of their local housing market.
Our program has been used in four different markets in the central city. The Dominican Center started a housing program using the ACTS model in 1999. It now has made significant changes to fit its participants' housing needs while maintaining the original ACTS' foundation.
Lue Lor and Mao Lee’s family fell in love with Vang Tou Yang’s home and made it their own.
“We like the way Blia was willing to work with us to build credit and qualify for a down payment grant before buying a home.” –Lue Lor, Mao Lee and Family
Our staff is trained to work independently with no secretarial assistance. Each Specialist manages an ACTS church office. We rely on fees from sellers, banks, and government contracts to pay our staff. ACTS’ directors are all volunteers.
“I am grateful for all of the resources that made it possible for my rehab process. ACTS helped me with different sources of financing, grants, and much needed technical assistance.” –Yang Mee
Each year ACTS CDC assists over one hundred families with homeownership and home improvement services.
Increasing crime, stagnant property values, physical deterioration of the housing stock, and housing abandonment stem from a community whose members do not own the homes in which they live.
ACTS helps low-income families buy homes the govenrment has condemned and Banks have abandoned. ACTS helps homebuyers develop rehab scopes of work that involve volunteers, local contractors, and homeowner sweat to ensure the cost to rehab is less than the home's value.
ACTS trains its employees in real estate brokerage, in credit and home-buying counseling, in housing rehabilitation, and in community development. Each ACTS employee has lived in one of our target neighborhoods.
“I bought my first home with the ACTS program. Now that I am selling, having Blia Cha’s skillfull and bilingual assistance shows me I’m in the right place.” —Vang Tou Yang
ACTS believes that the capacity to own one’s home provides a person with a sense of self-worth, frees them to exercise an entrepreneurial spirit, and allows them to interact confidently with others. Studies show that children who live in owner occupied homes perform better in school.
Our program operates out of a religious institution which has been an active part of the neighborhood for generations. ACTS commits our efforts to neighborhoods around these churches and intends to remain there for the long term.
The financing and operation of a home requires all the skills needed to run a business. In order to receive services from ACTS, our participants must be actively improving their credit, rehabbing their property, or completely focused on completing other tasks necessary to purchase a home.

Our sincere thanks to the following organizations and donors who have supported the ACTS Housing Program: