Grants

We Support Affordable Housing 

Affordable housing is a critical need in all communities. We work with a number of agencies to develop opportunities for our members and others to realize the American Dream of homeownership. 

Meriwest has sponsored grants for Affordable Housing Projects and was recently honored by Habitat for Humanity for supporting the gift of a first home to 11 families.   

Housing Endowment and Regional Trust (HEART)  

Meriwest Mortgage, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meriwest Credit Union, and the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust of San Mateo (HEART of San Mateo) have an affordable housing program focused on moderate income families earning near the area median income.  

Since the start of the program in 2008, Meriwest Mortgage has supported over 25 new homeowners in San Mateo County through the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust's Opening Doors program. Through this program, families can own a home in San Mateo County for as little as 5% down. HEART's Opening Doors program provides a second loan from the trust of up to $35,000 in conjunction with a Meriwest Mortgage First Loan. Families earning up to $150,000 per year are eligible. Details on the affordable housing program are available at the HEART of San Mateo's website. 

Federal Home Loan Bank of SF Affordable Housing Grant Programs 

As a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Meriwest Credit Union has the ability to support community development organizations through the bank's AHP (Affordable Housing Program) and AHEAD (Access to Housing and Economic Assistance for Development) grants. 

AHP

Through the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco’s Affordable Housing Program, Meriwest Credit Union sponsored a $160,000 grant to help finance the ten new townhomes recently dedicated by Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. The townhomes, located in the Pleasant Creek development of Walnut Creek, were developed to house working families earning below 80% of the median income of the region.

Catholic Charities of Santa Clara

Meriwest teamed up with Catholic Charities of Santa Clara for their SaveNow pilot program designed to provide financial education to at-risk youth in the sponsor’s Refugee Foster Care Program and others. The SaveNow program delivers learning and actual checking and savings account experience through an app that can facilitate the required financial relationships and promote savings.

Meriwest will sponsor the second grant to support Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, in their mission to end domestic violence in part by helping victims rebuild their lives through financial self-sufficiency. The funds will be used to help deliver credit counseling, employment training, individual case management, and self-sufficiency workshops designed to prepare domestic abuse victims for a better future, free of domestic violence.

Homebuyer's Assistance

Meriwest Mortgage also serves low and moderate income first-time homebuyers in the community through the FHLB's Individual Development and Empowerment Account program (I.D.E.A.) and the Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (W.I.S.H.) Program. These programs can provide a first time homebuyer with as much as $15,000 in down payment assistance. Please ask your loan representative if you are eligible for either of these homeownership grant programs.

About the Bay Area Home Buyer Agency (BAHBA)

The Bay Area Home Buyer Agency helps cities and counties in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area provide homebuyer program services to families who could not otherwise compete effectively for ownership housing in today's housing market. 

Meriwest Mortgage works with BAHBA to fund below market rate homes managed by various municipalities around the Bay. Since 2007, Meriwest Mortgage funded $75 Million in first mortgages originated by BAHBA and helped Bay Area families leverage over $5 million in down payment assistance.