Before going to the Denver FEC, James was struggling to find housing due to poor credit. “I was struggling to find a place of my own to rent and was staying at a spot that I wanted to leave for a while. I did not have any debt that I knew of to my name, and I had built up savings to move to my own place, but did not have anything much on my credit. This created a frustrating situation because I felt stuck and got denied housing. And not only that, I had to pay a lot for the rejected applications! I was getting really upset about the situation. A friend of mine told me about free financial coaching, and so I signed up.”
After a few sessions with his counselor, James was able to diagnose the credit issue preventing him from finding housing.
“Even though it was frustrating and time-consuming to find a place to live, my Financial Coach Yannek brought patience, commitment, time, and accountability to the process. He helped me realize there was an old issue on my credit that should not have been there but had an impact on housing applications. He explained the options for handling it, and then went over the pros and cons, risks, advantages, and costs for each option.”
His financial counselor then helped him find housing on several different housing sites: “Together Yannek and I connected to a bunch of different housing search sites. My coach helped me identify special programs, like income-based housing, private listings, and places that had different credit eligibility standards. He even helped me write letters of explanation and wrote a letter of support for me. It seemed like it would never happen but after all that effort I was able to get into a great new place that fits my budget and needs.”
Outside of securing housing, James learned practical financial tools and skills from his counselor. “At the same time the education received in the sessions helped understand how to strategically use a secured card in a way that would not build debt and best lift up my credit. I got to know these systems and what I can do to be successful in the future.” Now, James is an advocate for the Denver FEC – “I can, and do, tell my friends about this program to help them.”