Business was never my best subject.

So when I found out I'd be covering a program that helps military families buy homes in Iowa, I got worried.  Would I be crunching numbers and interviewing talking heads all day?

But once I got started, I realized I was way off.

I got in touch with Shawna Lode at the Iowa Finance Authority, the organization that started the "Military Match Homeownership Assistance Program."  Shawna explained the grant in plain and simple speak: Troops looking to buy a home in Iowa can get up to five thousand dollars in matching funds from the State.  Shawna also put me in touch with a couple in their late 20's that bought their home through the program last August.

When I met Jason and Mandie Reed in front of their new Davenport home, I realized right away how much they complement eachother.  He's in the Iowa Army National Guard and spent a couple of years fixing Chinook helicopters overseas.  Mandie works for the Valley Bank in Davenport and has a real eye for interior design.

I've interviewed people in the military before but this was the first time I got to see the personal side of a soldier.  Jason's two year deployment in South Korea and Afghanistan affected every facet of his life -- his family, finances and career goals.  But Jason says the Homeownership Program takes away some of the stress of serving overseas and allows troops to focus on the mission at hand.

After spending some time with Jason and Mandie, I met with Shawna Lode and Sharon Heuer, the Reed's bank lender. Luckily, neither interview involved any financial jargon.  Instead they told me how easy the program is.  Both women say the grant is a way to thank our troops for sacrificing so much.

Shawna says even though Iowa is the first to roll out the program, other states think it's a great idea and could follow suit.

I hope they do. If the program makes life less stressful for military families, even if by a little bit, it's more than worth it.