Low-income families get help buying first homes in Fresno, Calif., area.

By Sanford Nax, The Fresno Bee, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 22--Eva Alvarez is the first in her family to buy a house -- and she did it using a unique program that helps reduce the costs to low-income households.

A wife and mother who works as an administrative assistant, Alvarez said her family wanted out of their two-bedroom apartment. She heard about the new program from ACORN and enrolled in June.

By Aug. 15, the family bought a two-bedroom house near Dakota and West avenues in Fresno. Her fifth-grade son, she said, is especially happy to have a back yard where he can play and shoot basketballs.

The purchase …