| Still, the President acknowledged there’s a homeownership gap that exists for minorities, and said that there has been significant progress since he announced in June 2002 a goal of adding 5.5 million new minority home owners in America by the end of the decade. “Since then, more than 1.5 million minority families have moved into houses of their own. And for the first time, most minorities own their own home,” he said. Bush shared a conversation he had with Lori Benavidez, a single mother who recently moved into her own home in Albuquerque with the help of a federal homeownership program. “Here’s what Lori said: ‘I never thought the day would happen when my girls and I would be sitting in our own home. It’s a miracle.’” Homeownership was high on the White House agenda last month. President Bush made similar stops in Pennsylvania and Arizona to tout the benefits of housing and discussed homeownership in a national radio address on March 27. | 
President Bush met with builders, first-time home buyers and local officials and citizens in Albuquerque on March 26 to discuss the Administration’s efforts to promote homeownership. 