People Who Teach, Protect, and Care for Lynchburg Should Have a Fair Shot at Owning a Home Here
A teacher can afford a mortgage payment, but after rent, student loans, and everyday expenses, saving tens of thousands of dollars for a down payment and closing costs feels impossible. She teaches in Lynchburg every day but may have to buy a home somewhere else – or give up on homeownership altogether.
I’m Christina Delzingaro, and I’m running for Lynchburg City Council because I believe city government exists to serve people and solve problems, and right now, it isn’t. We need city leaders who will think differently, bring people together, and get to work. For more than three decades, I’ve done exactly that. When our city faced a healthcare access crisis, I brought together community members to create Community Access Network – a completely new approach to healthcare access that now serves thousands of people each year. I got to work. I listened. I learned from those who knew more. And then I delivered. Now it’s time to bring that approach to City Council.
Homeownership anchors families and builds longterm wealth. Lynchburg should open that door for qualified firsttime buyers. The people who protect us, teach our children, and care for our loved ones deserve to call this community home.
Help working people get over the upfront hurdle.
Explore down-payment and closing-cost assistance for qualified first-time homebuyers.
Partner with local banks and credit unions on favorable loan programs.
Consider rehabilitation assistance for older homes and incentives for buying within the city.
Make full use of existing state and federal programs before creating something duplicative.
Use homeownership as a workforce strategy.
Consider targeted assistance for teachers, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other public safety employees, nurses, medical staff, and other essential workers.
Helping employees put down roots can make Lynchburg more competitive in recruiting and retaining the people we need.
When people can live in the community where they teach, protect, heal, and serve, the whole city benefits.
Pair assistance with more attainable housing.
Homebuyer assistance only works if families can find homes they can afford.
We need to keep increasing the supply of attainable housing while helping qualified buyers access it.
Any city program should have clear eligibility rules, a sustainable funding plan, and partnerships that leverage City dollars with private, nonprofit, state, and federal resources.
If you think the people who serve Lynchburg should have a fair shot at owning a home here, I’d be proud to have your vote. As a member of City Council, I will work to help qualified first-time buyers – especially the people who keep this city running – have a real path to owning a home.
