Wells Fargo is partnering with the NeighborhoodLIFT program to help low- and moderate-income individuals and families purchase homes in the greater Boston area.

The banking giant invested $6.75 million in the program sponsored by NeighborWorks Southern Mass, which provides $20,000 down payment assistance grants for eligible Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Plymouth county homebuyers. NeighborWorks is a one-stop-shop, providing all the answers and support a homebuyer needs – homebuyer education, realty, financial coaching, foreclosure counseling and more.

There are special parameters for veterans and service members, teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who may reserve an additional $2,500 in down payment assistance grants.

Prospective homebuyers who secure the $20,000 down payment assistance grants must complete homebuyer education and their annual incomes must not exceed 100 percent of the local area median income, which is about $107,800 up to a family of four.

In Boston, the city is losing families of color who want to purchase a home of their own. Ten years ago, 674 Black homebuyers purchased homes in Boston, but by 2016, that number had declined to 307, according to information provided by Wells Fargo. Housing affordability, lack of generational assets and high rental cost burdens that make saving for a down payment virtually impossible are some of the leading causes of the decline.

Since the program began in 2012, Wells Fargo has helped to create nearly 20,000 homeowners and distributed $400 million in down payment assistance.