JACKSON, Tenn.—The Mother Liberty CME church announced the opening mid-July of a home buying center to help low to moderate-income residents purchase their own homes. The center will cooperate with Fannie Mae's outreach effort, Union Planters Bank and First Tennessee and will offer classes and computer labs for potential homebuyers, according to The Jackson Sun.

"The basis of capitalism is to own capital," said Mother Liberty pastor Daryll Coleman. "It will be a one-stop shop to help people become educated about home ownership."

The center will be open from 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday beginning in July. The computer lab will help people acquire and compare loans online.

The home buying center is an extension of a faith-based program that began in Memphis in March 2002, and was later incorporated into Jackson, Miss., said Ralph Perry, director of Fannie Mae's Tennessee office.

"Owning a home is a wealth-building asset," he said. "It is an asset that allows you to accrue funds, to retire, or send your kids to college. It is just about the largest investment a person will make."

Fannie Mae is a federally chartered, secondary home mortgage buyer that purchases approved mortgages from banks. It does not make loans.

Fannie Mae's outreach effort has helped 12,000 to 13,000 people nationally since 2002, said Julaine Harris, senior deputy director of FannieMae in Tennessee. It has agreed to work with CME churches nationally to purchase $25 million in loans from the nation's low to moderate-income borrowers. CME churches have a presence in 40 states, Coleman said.

The company has already purchased more than $6 million in loans, mostly from the Memphis area.