Quote from @Mike Klarman: So, the Ground Up Programs are the hardest to get into. 

At the end of the day, your servicer is there to keep your loan compliant and to process and apply payments.

Investing in Peoria sounds intriguing, especially since you’re drawn to the area and its industrial charm.

Quote from @Jed Butikofer: Unfortunately, it takes money to make money.With high prices and high mortgage rates, cash flow is difficult to find and we may not see a return to the 2018 market for a while.

Hi Lamier and welcome to the BiggerPocket's Community!

Offer to buy them a few indoor portable heaters until you find a solution. 

In making this post here on BP, I wanted to humbly come to the forum however and start from scratch in terms of idea generation as to any and all avenues to pursue in getting the word out there so as to not miss any options.

Can anyone point me in a direction to start?

You are already paying rent, so pay it to yourself to increase cash flow and accelerate savings for the next investment. 

I do not know him, but the path he is leading you is a difficult path    Note difficult does not imply impossible; there are people who are successful with S8 housing    In my area s8 is so undesirable that they write laws trying to make it challenging to not allow S8 tenants.