DECATUR, Ill (WCIA) — Decatur is teaming up with a non-profit to help renters buy their first home.

The Decatur City Council approved a partnership with the Community Investment Corporation of Decatur on Monday night. The CICD gives loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the area, but they also offer counseling for first-time home-buyers. Now, they will work with the city to set those people up with rehabbed houses.

“They already provide pre and post-purchase counseling,” said Richelle Dunbar, Assistant Director of Economic and Community Development, “and so we recognize that as we move forward with different programs, i.e., our abandonment to rehab programs, we need a streamline of residents who are ready to go into home ownership.”

CICD will also help people with financial counseling, credit building and home maintenance training. They said, after looking at the numbers, renters paid just as much as those with mortgages.