A not-for-profit is offering grants to help first-time homebuyers.

Community Housing Innovations is offering federally funded grants to 40 Long Islanders who qualify on a first-come, first-served basis. Qualifications can be found on the not-for-profit's website.

Ru Jurlow, a single mother with a teenage daughter and son, is finally moving into a home big enough for her family after qualifying for a $25,000 grant. She is counting down the days until she is officially a homeowner.

"I just can't wait to bake Christmas cookies in this kitchen with my daughter," she says.

Community Housing Innovations says it works with new homeowners like Jurlow to help them choose a house they can afford long into the future. 

"CHI helped me out a lot with figuring my finances and doing the actual math, making sure that when you got into a home you weren't going to get into trouble," says Jurlow.