Our History and Purpose
Pure Hearts R Us Housing Agency was founded in October 2007 by Aaron Leonard. In his role as Executive Director, Mr. Leonard brings personal experience which has given him a unique insight and understanding of the needs of people who were deeply affected by the financial collapse of 2007 – 2009 and the resulting housing crisis that is still recovering today.
In 2005, Aaron owned a home and had a thriving business as a Real Estate Developer. Then, as the economy took a nosedive, work on all of Aaron’s projects came to a sudden halt. At that time, there were no foreclosure mitigation counseling programs to help challenged homeowners understand their options. In a matter of fewer than six months, Aaron went from earning a six-figure annual income to losing his own house, his business, and relying on welfare as his only means of support.
Aaron decided then and there that he had to do something to help not only himself but the millions of others that he saw sharing in his predicament. Aaron began by volunteering with The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), the nationwide organization that thousands were turning to for mortgage relief and foreclosure mitigation.
With our holistic approach to homeownership education and financial empowerment, Pure Hearts R Us is making the American Dream of SUSTAINABLE homeownership a reality on Main Street again.
Through extensive observation and learning while volunteering, and thorough research on his own, Aaron realized the value of consolidating disparate approaches into one holistic, systematic approach to homeownership assistance; a process that would fill all-pervading knowledge with the necessary education, resources, and support that so many hopeful homeowners lacked.
During this period of learning and research, Aaron was introduced to NeighborWorks America, which provided the necessary training for him to become a Certified Home Ownership Education Counselor. With this final piece of Aaron’s own education in place, the nonprofit housing counseling agency, Pure Hearts R Us, Inc., was born.
Pure Hearts R Us utilizes a holistic approach to homeownership that begins with helping prospective homeowners qualify for cost-reduced mortgages and then extends to the entire experience of being a stress-free, financially secure homeowner.
We help our clients connect all the dots, from assisting them step by step to become ready for homeownership if they’re not yet qualified, to bringing about, for those who ARE ready, the financial services and products that will get them into a home the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.
We offer lending and real estate services through our own licensed in-house professionals and we are partnered with other major third party lenders and real estate professionals that offer different kinds of cost savings to our qualified clients such as up to 100% financing (zero down payment) as well as closing cost assistance, benefits that are unavailable by approaching a lender without Pure Hearts R Us as a housing counseling intermediary. Finally, we offer comprehensive free financial planning for ongoing sustainable homeownership and life-long financial security.
