There are roughly 100 million renters in the United States, and for most of them, the financial knowledge that could help them transition to homeownership was never taught. Steven Libman, founder of Investing With Purpose, sees this as both a societal failure and an opportunity. Through 15 years of operating multifamily real estate, Libman has developed a faith-driven community investment model where financial literacy is a central pillar. This model is now being advanced through Investing With Purpose, with a live example at a property owned by Integrity Holdings Group (IHG), a firm Libman co-founded.
The wealth gap the model addresses is stark: the average homeowner in the U.S. has a net worth of over $350,000, while the average renter has around $10,500. This gap is not primarily about income but about knowledge, access, and compounding decisions made without proper information.
Libman is direct about how the financial world has failed ordinary people. Many have been told that managing money is too complex, leading them to outsource their finances to advisors who chase returns or CPAs who file returns without proactively reducing taxes. Renters often remain tenants for decades because nobody explained the mechanics of homeownership—how to get out of debt, build credit, or save a down payment.
A current example is a 418-unit property in Lubbock, Texas, owned and operated by IHG. The property runs a financial literacy program in partnership with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, delivered by on-site ministry coordinators. The program is free for residents and covers debt reduction, credit building, and savings strategies. This is part of the Asset Ministry Program framework that Investing With Purpose advances across its portfolio.
The Lubbock property consists of individually deeded duplexes. Residents who complete the program and meet qualifying milestones have a pathway to purchase their own unit, moving from tenant to homeowner—and in some cases to landlord—within a realistic timeframe, backed by partnerships with local credit unions and banks. “Maybe the single mom who thought she would be renting forever is, two years later, a landlord,” says Libman. “That changes the trajectory for her and her kids.”
The program also delivers business benefits. Residents with strong social ties in a complex are 45 to 50 percent less likely to leave, and lease attrition at properties running structured community engagement programs drops by 40 to 50 percent. Lower turnover means lower costs and more stable income. The financial literacy program is not a cost center; it’s an investment in community stability, which supports asset performance.
Investing With Purpose is also developing summer tutoring and kids’ programming at several portfolio properties to address learning gaps for children in multifamily housing during school breaks. The goal is to meet real needs, build genuine connections, and create environments where people want to stay.
The Lubbock program is still new, and full outcomes are being tracked, but the framework is replicable. Libman is applying it across a growing portfolio through Investing With Purpose. The broader question for the real estate industry: what responsibility does an operator have to residents? For most, the answer stops at maintenance and lease compliance. For a faith-driven operator, that answer is insufficient. “Where people live affects almost everything their life touches,” says Libman. “If we can impact somebody’s life inside a community, and then you see the butterfly effect of that, it is immeasurable.”
More information on the Asset Ministry Program is available at investingwithpurpose.org/impact.
