Ms. Carolina O.
Ms. Carolina O. is a single mother of three children who wanted to a home in the near future. She saw a flyer for the Individual Development Account (IDA) Program, which would give her the opportunity...
Ms. Carolina O. is a single mother of three children who wanted to a home in the near future. She saw a flyer for the Individual Development Account (IDA) Program, which would give her the opportunity to save money for a down payment.
For eight months, Ms. Carolina participated in the IDA Program, attended individual financial counseling sessions, and learned how to pay off her debts. Each month she worked on developing these skills to become economically self-sufficient. After attending a Financial Literacy class, Ms. Carolina said, "I learned how credit, homeownership, and financial literacy works." In addition, she said, "I learned how to discipline myself concerning my finances so I could make regular deposits into my IDA account."
PROCEED's trainings and classes in homeownership gave her the skills she needed to maker her dream of homeownership a reality. As a result of the program, Ms. Carolina raised her FICO credit score by 50 points with the tools she received from the credit class. Then in September 2012, Ms. Carolina requested her savings plus the matching funds for a total of $3,000 and used it to buy a house in Union County, New Jersey. Ms. Carolina states, "I was able to put the down payment funds together to purchase my home. I can't thank you enough for your help and support."