In 2017, Vickie Day moved with her two young children to Burton Village, Delaware State Housing Authority’s public housing community in Rehoboth Beach.  As required for anyone receiving public housing, Section 8, or Housing Choice Vouchers in Delaware, Day also enrolled in the Moving to Work (MTW) program.

MTW participants sign a contract agreeing to take whatever steps are necessary to become independent of government-assisted housing within seven years.  Those steps include finding and maintaining a steady job and income, enrolling in career-oriented courses or training, or a combination of both.  Participants are also required to work with a DSHA case manager to develop an action plan and meet regularly with that person to report on their progress.

To provide a work incentive, MTW participants’ rent is capped at 35 percent of their adjusted monthly income (AMI), not to exceed $350/month.  As their income increases, their rent increases, but the amount they pay over $350 is put into a savings or escrow.

After five years, if the participants’ income has increased enough to enable them to pay fair-market value rent, they transition out of MTW’s Tier 1 and are eligible to receive their entire escrow account; 60% of the funds must be used to purchase a home or pay fair-market rent.  The remaining 40% may be used for other housing-related expenses.

If an MTW participant’s income has not increased enough to pay the fair market value of their rental unit within five years, they may stay in the program for an additional two years (MTW’s Tier 2) but will receive only 60% of their escrow account when they leave the program.

While living in Burton Village, Day worked at Eastern Quality Vending and Weis Market before landing her present job as a Rite Aid pharmacy technician.   In 2022, she entered Tier 2 of the MTW program.  

Day’s focus while in the MTW program was on improving her credit.  She took classes and worked with a financial coach at NeighborGood Partners, a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.  Taking her counselor’s advice, she opened three credit card accounts to diversify and help lower her credit utilization ratio, and paid down student loans.

By 2024, Day had improved her credit score and had enough money saved in her escrow account to apply for a mortgage and purchase a home.  After several months of looking for property in her price range, she extended her search beyond southern Delaware and found a row house in Wilmington, close to the Riverfront, that was perfect for her and her children, now 9 and 10 years old.  She closed on the house at the end of June 2024.

In addition to using funds in her escrow account to purchase her home, working with Loan Officer Tracy Chongling and Guaranteed Rate, a DSHA preferred lender, Day also received a DSHA Welcome Home First State Home Loan.  At three percent of the original mortgage loan amount, she received $3,446 in down payment and closing cost assistance. 

Day says her successful completion of the MTW program, and the purchase of her home had much to do with the help and support she received from her DSHA case manager, Tanikka Miller.  “If it wasn’t for Tanikka, I’d still be renting.  She helped me find a realtor and lender.  And even after I left Burton Village, Tanikka still checked in to see how I was doing.”

Living in a quiet neighborhood and having a backyard for her children and pets to play in are among the benefits of owning her home, Day says, adding that she enjoys not having a landlord. Day’s advice for anyone starting out in the MTW program is to “save your money and make sure your credit is where it needs to be.”