One April morning in Washington, D.C., when a 40-degree breeze offered the same jolt as a cup of espresso, Noelle Melton sat inside La Cosecha, a food hall in Union Market, an area north of Massachusetts Avenue more widely known as NOMA.
Wrapped in a mosaic-print scarf and black fishnet stockings, she chose a warmed-up croissant and latte to fuel her for the start of the day.
Melton joined the community development nonprofit NeighborWorks America in 2021 as vice president of national homeownership programs and lending. A graduate of George Washington University with a master's in urban public policy and a bachelor's in political science, Melton previously led affordable housing initiatives at Fannie Mae for eight years.
At NeighborWorks, the organization encompasses about 250 community-based organizations throughout the U.S. and its territories. Its mission is to support and promote homeownership through grants, training and programs. NeighborWorks America announced Wednesday that "housing activities by its nationwide network of nonprofit community development organizations resulted in $2.56 billion total investment into the creation and preservation of affordable homeownership and rental housing."
With about 24 years dedicated to housing policy and advocacy work, Melton spoke about what distinguishes her team’s work, shared tips for buyers and divulged her latest binge-watch on Netflix:
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How has the path to homeownership changed in recent years?
Some of the chess pieces have moved around, but it’s still complex. Eighteen or 20 years ago, people were freewheeling it. After the financial crisis, lending tightened up, and now you have to have this pristine, perfect credit score and record. Of our 250 organizations, 80 of them are Community Development Financial Institutions, mission-driven lenders trying to support their community. They are looking for ways to make it more accessible and more sustainable. There are still opportunities, but you just have to understand how to navigate it. You have to be willing to ask questions.
What resources are there for a first-time buyer?
Get in touch with a housing counselor. These are individuals who are really there to guide you through that process. A home purchase is not just one and done. Two years later, they'll have somebody talking to them about refinancing. A housing counselor can be your friend, telling you things you need to know at different stages. People don’t have to do this alone. You don’t want the largest purchase of your lifetime to be structured to fail. Working with somebody who doesn’t have a stake in it, they are just there to tell you what to do and if it’s going to work out financially, help you improve your credit, help you find down payment assistance, help you with savings, help you with a more affordable loan. Those are huge things. (Most housing counselor services are free, but more involved cases may come with a fee of up to $50. Anyone can access these sessions, regardless of income.)
Talk about your upbringing. What inspired you to do this work?
I was one of four kids. My mom was a social worker, and my dad was a Lutheran minister. We moved around to different places. We lived in Brooklyn, and Gary, Indiana. The majority of my time growing up during my formative years was in the city and going most of the time to Detroit public schools.
Detroit in the '80s had tons of empty homes, tons of people on the street trying to make ends meet.
Seeing that in Detroit and how so much of the world was not aware of it, stuck with me in having a sort of social service background.
Diving into your home life now. What are you binge-watching these days?
I watched something silly like "Gilmore Girls." I had never seen it before. I totally binge-watched it. It was really great.
"Gilmore Girls" fans often rally behind one of Rory’s three main love interests in the series: Dean, Jess, or Logan. Who are you a fan of?
I'm Team Rory.