Littleton, NH— Badger Peabody & Smith Realty, as part of its community outreach initiatives, has once again provided a donation to AHEAD (Affordable Housing Education and Development) in a unique way through the generosity of the buyers and sellers they work with, as well as the firm itself.

Throughout the year, the buyers and sellers of properties in New Hampshire working with Badger Peabody & Smith Realty agreed to have their escrow funds placed in an interest-bearing account, with 100% of the interest going to AHEAD to support their many housing-related projects for the residents of Grafton and Coös Counties. At the end of each year, Badger Peabody & Smith Realty doubles the impact by matching the interest earned and donating the funds to AHEAD.

Andy Smith, Broker/Owner of Badger Peabody & Smith Realty said, "This is a unique program we started over two decades ago. This check represents our match of the interest we earn and donate to AHEAD each month from our Client Escrow account. In cooperation with our over 848 customers and clients we helped buy or sell New Hampshire real estate in 2024, we are delighted to be able to provide AHEAD a total of $6,692.54 in 2024."

Harrison Kanzler, Executive Director of AHEAD, expressed his gratitude, saying, "This annual investment into our community has helped AHEAD and our clients over the years. This allows us to continue to teach our home buyer workshops, our budgeting workshops, and help people on the path to homeownership and finding affordable housing. This level of commitment from Badger Peabody & Smith Realty has helped us in so many ways."

Established in 1991, AHEAD Inc. is a community-based, non-profit housing development organization with a main office in Littleton, dedicated to strengthening families throughout northern New Hampshire by helping them build and preserve assets for the future. The organization's heartbeat is fighting homelessness and generational poverty in the rural communities of North Country through developing and providing safe, quality affordable apartments, financial literacy to all ages, and counseling services for credit, home buying, and foreclosure.

New initiatives at AHEAD this year include the expansion of its Pathways to Homeownership down payment assistance program. With newly secured funding, the program will now extend its reach to eligible homebuyers throughout Grafton County. This expansion, branded as Pathways to Homeownership II, allows eligible buyers to receive 5% of the purchase price, up to $20,000, in down payment assistance when buying a home in Grafton County. Participants must be employed within the county, purchasing a primary residence there, and have a household income at or below 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

This expansion of the program, builds upon the original Pathways to Homeownership I program, funded by the Neil & Louise Tillotson Fund, which supports homebuyers in Coös County as well as the towns of Bethlehem and Littleton, NH.

To learn more about AHEAD, you can visit them online at www.homesahead.org

Badger Peabody & Smith Realty is the North Country, Mt. Washington Valley, Lakes Region of NH, Western Maine, and Northeast Kingdom of Vermont representative of LeadingRE®. With a membership that spans six continents, LeadingRE connects more than 550 firms and 135,000 sales associates who produce over 1.1 million real estate transactions each year. With combined resources of over 60 full-time agents and eight offices, Badger Peabody & Smith Realty can be reached online at BadgerPeabodySmith.com.