Meet Mpenda and Salome

Mpenda and Salome fled civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1994. After almost 20 years of waiting in a refugee camp, they were resettled in Akron where they built a new life from scratch. While getting on their feet, they rented a distressed home in the neighborhood (i.e. unreliable furnace, windows painted shut) for several years. They decided they wanted to buy a home, but lacked knowledge about how to do that.

​After learning about Legacies of Success from one of our past homeowners, Mpenda and Salome enrolled in our Future Homeowner mentorship program to learn more about the process of buying a home. With help from LOS, they were able to establish credit, shop around for a mortgage, and acquire valuable homeowner skills as they helped renovate their home. They officially became homeowners during the summer of 2023.
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Since becoming homeowners, Mpenda and Salome have enjoyed the freedom and stability of homeownership. Legacies of Success has stayed connected to Mpenda and Salome through regular meetings to provide additional homecare instructions, assistance completing home repair tasks together, and help connecting them to other neighborhood ministries and resources.