JENNIFER HOLDEN: MILITARY HOUSING ASSISTANCE FUND >>>

For many military families, owning a home just became easier thanks to Military Housing Assistance Fund, or MHAF.

According to the MHAF Web site, a recent study by Rand Corporation stated that only 27.3 percent of military families own their own home. Of those, half said they couldn't afford to do so.

That's where MHAF comes in. Errol Anderson, managing director at MHAF, stated that since the fall of 2004, MHAF has offered military families the opportunity to make it easier to afford homes by funding the closing costs and/or the down payments.

"This is free money that people don't have to pay back," he said. "People always ask us what the catch is, but there is no catch."

MHAF's mission is to provide opportunities to military personnel and to "promote the value of home ownership as the foundation for building strong communities and personal security for men and women serving our country in uniform," noted the MHAF Web site.

"American service men and women, throughout our all-volunteer military, deserve more than our government can afford to pay them. They deserve a piece of the American dream they are defending," said Chairman William A. Dugger.

The Web site goes on to say that due to the current economic crisis, MHAF's lenders have agreed to "waive their 1 percent loan origination fee for military families who refinance their VA or FHA mortgage. This is a streamlined refinance, and there is no appraisal and no out of pocket costs."

The only out of pocket costs are "usually limited to the earnest money that you pay when you submit your offer to purchase real estate. Our gift program helps you with all of the other costs associated with purchasing your dream home, and ours is a true gift that never needs to be repaid," continues the MHAF Web site.

MHAF also offers the opportunity for private citizens to contribute needed support to those in uniform. "MHAF is one of the very few, if not the only, major charity in the United States that gives 100 percent of the funds it receives to the intended beneficiaries," a press release said.

The national average salary in the United States is $36,500, and the military family makes less than that, noted Anderson. That is the prime reason that MHAF was started, so that private citizens can give back to the military to help military families achieve their dream of home ownership.

MHAF works with families from the beginning of the process, said Anderson. They can help families begin the process on their VA Home Loans as well.

"We take care of everything," he said. "We have the best loan officers who work for us so you get the best."

MHAF's loan officers and other employees are well-trained so that they can help military families with any questions they may have.

"We help everyone we can," said Anderson. "We don't turn anyone away."

MHAF is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, and all donations it receives go to aiding military families to own their own home. MHAF is open to all branches of the military as well as veterans.

For more information about MHAF, visit www.usmhaf.org or call (720) 932-8049. To make a donation to MHAF, visit http://www.usmhaf.org/app.php/template/Donation.