This story is part of Ideastream Public Media’s “Sound of Us” series covering housing and advocacy in Canton, produced in partnership with Canton for All People. Learn more at ideastream.org/soundofus.
Inside her ranch-style house near the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Darnella Jenkins said she still can’t believe her custom-built home belongs to her.
“I always used to say that I wanted to own my home by the time I’m 40,” she said. “It’s just perfect. Dreams do come true, and I’m just incredibly grateful.”
Jenkins turned 40 this year, within months of closing on the home. For years, she moved between Section 8 housing and affordable rentals in Canton, where rent kept climbing.
Safety was also a concern — her previous home had unsecured windows that weren’t safe for her five-year-old son, Carter, who has autism. But her first attempt at securing a mortgage ended in disappointment.
“I got denied the first time for a bank approval,” she said. “It was a slow grind, coming from [a credit score of] 450 to like 745. It didn’t happen in a year.”
It took nearly five years to get her finances in order. And all during that time, Jenkins faced a divorce, bankruptcy and a lupus diagnosis, an autoimmune disease, that forced her to retire early.
A lifeline through local aid
But she persisted, and in the fall of last year, Canton for All People, a faith-based community development corporation, awarded Jenkins $45,000 in down payment assistance using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The City of Canton added another $5,000. The combined $50,000 grant brought the payments for the $200,000 home down to something she could afford.
“I’ve never heard of it — $45,000,” Jenkins said. “I am a very big advocate in homeownership and affordability and funds to help people reach that—getting them out of poverty into homeownership, building generational wealth.”
While the organization’s pandemic relief funds have now expired, it continues to offer down payment assistance to residents making less than 80% of the area median income.
Jenkins is not alone in the challenges she faced before she owned her home. According to the Urban Institute, about one in four mortgage applicants are denied because of low credit scores or insufficient down payments. At the same time, home prices continue to climb nationwide, even in neighborhoods that have faced decades of disinvestment.
That reality has shifted the typical age of first-time buyers. In 2023, the average age rose to 38, compared with the mid-20s in the 1980s. Policy groups like the Center for American Progress have called for expanded down payment assistance, but housing researchers argue that subsidies alone won’t fix the problem without significantly increasing the housing supply.
A new foundation
For Jenkins, though, the assistance changed everything.
Her home was designed with her family’s needs in mind: a sensory-friendly playroom for her son, safety outlets and secure windows and bedrooms on the first floor to accommodate her lupus.
“Sometimes my mobility, it’s not good,” Jenkins said. “I have a shower that they made so I can sit down in it. So that’s really helpful.”
Her favorite spot is the backyard patio, where she watches Carter play and dreams about one day bringing home a dog.
"I just hope people are always encouraged to know that to just never give up on your dreams," she said. "No matter what it looks like, no matter where you come from.”
For Jenkins, the dream has been realized. It has a front door, a backyard and room for her son to grow.
