Magahan Jackson with her family in front of their new home
MIDDLETOWN – It took Magahen Jackson seven years to fulfill the
American Dream of buying her own home and moving her family out of their
small Middletown apartment.
With the aid of programs through the US Department of Housing and Urban
Development, the City of Middletown and PathStone, a home assistance counseling
agency, and M&T Bank, Jackson was able to purchase her four-bedroom,
two-bathroom home on Liberty Street in Middletown earlier this year.
On Thursday, the regional director of HUD, Lynne Patton, came to the Middletown
area to honor the Jackson family for their achievement.
“I really do want to thank you Magahen. You show everybody in this
room what is possible if you really try,” she said.
Mayor Joseph DeStefano said it is families like the Jacksons that breathe
life into smaller cities.
“The revitalization of small cities especially, in this country,
is dependent upon home ownership, a revitalized middle class; when they
own a home, they are more involved in the community,” he said.
June is National Homeowner Month and Patton wanted to put a spotlight
on the program and the local woman’s success.
