There are roughly 100 million renters in the United States, representing one third of the country. For most of them, the financial knowledge that would help them transition to homeownership, get out of debt, build a credit score, and save a down payment was never taught in school, by their parents, or by their landlord. Steven Libman, founder of Investing With Purpose, views this as both a societal failure and an opportunity. Through 15 years of operating multifamily real estate, Libman has built a faith-driven community investment model where financial literacy is a central pillar of resident services.
The wealth gap the model addresses is stark. The average homeowner in the United States has a net worth of over $350,000, while the average renter has a net worth of around $10,500. This disparity is not primarily due to income differences but rather a gap in knowledge, access, and compounding decisions made without proper information.
“We have done a really good job of reconciling our giving and our philanthropy to our core values,” Libman says. “But when it comes to our investments, we outsource our conscience and our thinking to someone else.” The same dynamic plays out in housing, where renters who could become homeowners within two or three years with education and a structured plan instead remain tenants for decades.
A current example of the model in action is a 418-unit property in Lubbock, Texas, owned and operated by Integrity Holdings Group (IHG), a firm Libman co-founded. The property runs a financial literacy program in partnership with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, delivered by on-site ministry coordinators. The free program covers debt reduction, credit building, and savings strategies, foundational mechanics of financial health that most multifamily residents have never accessed in a structured way.
What makes the Lubbock program particularly notable is the pathway to homeownership. The 418-unit community consists of individually deeded duplexes. Residents who complete the program and hit 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.”
This is not philanthropy dressed up as business. Retention data from properties running this model shows that residents with six or seven friends in the same complex are roughly 45 to 50 percent less likely to leave. Lease attrition at properties running structured community engagement programs drops by 40 to 50 percent. Lower turnover means lower costs, more stable income, and better performing assets. The financial literacy program is an investment in community stability, which is an investment in asset stability.
Investing With Purpose is also developing summer tutoring and kids’ programming at several portfolio properties, targeting the documented learning gap affecting children in multifamily housing during school breaks. The broader question the model raises is what responsibility an operator has to the people living inside its assets. For most operators, the answer stops at maintenance, safety, and lease compliance. For a faith-driven operator, Libman argues that answer is insufficient. “Where people live affects almost everything their life touches,” he says. “The communities they are building, the people they are with, 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 and the firm’s broader community investment model is available at investingwithpurpose.org/impact.
