COEUR D'ALENE -- Jacqueline Maurer of Coeur d'Alene is heading back to classes this fall with a little help from Idaho Housing and Finance Association and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

Maurer, a single mom to 3-year-old Quincy Michael, is a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) participant with IHFA. The association sponsored Maurer's scholarship application to NAHRO, financed her trip to the awards ceremony in Portland, and in the first year of the scholarship, IHFA will pay an additional $250 for Maurer's education.

"We are pleased to see an individual work so diligently to achieve her dreams and provide for her family," said Gerald Hunter, IHFA president and executive director. "IHFA's FSS Program is helping the Maurers and many other Idaho families become self-sufficient and own their own homes."

The scholarship, $1,000 per year for four years, was announced this spring by NAHRO. Maurer was one of four winners from NAHRO's Pacific Northwest Region, comprised of Idaho, Alaska, Oregon and Washington. Recipients of the continuing education scholarship must be out of high school for at least four years, must have a high school diploma or GED, and must be pursuing a university, college, trade or specialty school. In addition, the scholarship recipient must maintain a 2.5 GPA and be a full-time student.

"It has to do more with motivation than grades," says Ron Oldham, Director of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of NAHRO. Maurer already has demonstrated the motivation: she returned to college in 2003 at North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene - without the NAHRO scholarship support. She will put the scholarship to use at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, where she is pursuing a degree in social work. She plans to work toward a master's degree in that field.

Maurer's family influenced her decision to head back to the classroom. "I had a good job before, but not one good enough to support my son and I, so when he was born I quit my job and headed back to school to gain an education and a job that would support my family," she says.

Maurer is a part-time tutor and mentor at NIC. She has held a wide variety of jobs, including serving in the U.S. Navy, and most recently, working at Home Depot. She has also volunteered with the American Red Cross and is a current volunteer with the Kootenai County Juvenile Probation Department.

An accomplished student, she made the Dean's List every semester at NIC and the President's List at LCSC. Maurer has received an alumni scholarship from NIC, a Rotary Club scholarship, and the Northwest Association of Special Programs (NASP) Scholastic Achievement Award.

In her application essay to NAHRO, Maurer stated that she intends to use college "to better myself through education and service to children" in the community and to help troubled teens.

Maurer became a Section 8 Rental Assistance participant through IHFA in December of 2003. Two months later, she joined the association's Family Self-Sufficiency program, which she expects to complete in 2009.

The program, a component of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, is designed to empower families to become financially self-sufficient and no longer reliant on government assistance. FSS offers a combination of education, job training, financial planning, career counseling and other support services.

"I wanted to be able to own a house and have a place my son could call home. I was sick of moving, so when I heard of a program that would help me buy a house, I jumped on board," says Maurer.

In the FSS program, funds from HUD are placed in an interest-bearing escrow account, which grows based on the increased earned income of the FSS participant. Upon completion of the program, the participant may use the escrow account to help pay for home ownership costs.

"The experience has been good," Maurer says. "If you're eligible, I would recommend that anyone try the Family Self-Sufficiency Program."

Currently, 207 people are enrolled in IHFA's FSS program. Since its inception in 1995, the program has produced 272 graduates statewide, 112 of which have become homeowners. IHFA has signed contracts with 1,030 families since the beginning of the program.

"I know five years seems like a long time, but time will go by whether we want it to or not. We might as well have something to show for it at the end of it all."

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The Idaho Housing and Finance Association, a financial services and housing business organization, provides funding for affordable housing in communities where it is most needed and when economically feasible.