Clark Atlanta University Graduate Becomes First Time Homeowner Through Home on the Westside Program

Westside Future Fund is proud to celebrate Sara Buckmaster as one of our newest homeowners through the Home on the Westside program.

Sara’s connection to the Westside is rooted in both scholarship and service. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University and an alumna of its Community Engagement Leadership program, Sara is currently pursuing her doctorate at Emory University, where her research focuses on community engagement and housing in underserved neighborhoods. For Sara, the historic Westside isn’t just where she studied — it’s where she’s chosen to live and serve.

At just 24 years old, Sara took a landmark step as a first-time homeowner, closing on a three-bedroom, two-bath home in the heart of English Avenue — the community she has dedicated her career to serving. With support from Westside Future Fund’s down payment assistance program, Sara turned years of academic and personal investment in this community into a place to truly call her own.

Every day, Sara works to better understand and address the challenges facing neighborhoods like the historic Westside. Now, she’s putting that commitment into practice — building her own future in the same community whose story she is helping to tell.

Congratulations, Sara, and welcome home!

If you’re interested in finding your own pathway to homeownership, you can learn more here.