HomeFree-USA affiliate counselors are making a difference one client at a time

The help and guidance of a housing counselor can be life-transforming. Just ask the person who became the first in their family to own a home thanks to a counselor’s help. Or ask the person who was able to avoid going into foreclosure when their family faced a major medical crisis. 

Recognizing the impact housing counselors can have, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of Housing Counseling (OHC) have announced the first annual “Housing Counselor Day,” September 26  to celebrate the work of housing counselors and raise awareness of their work. Here’s how two housing counselors in the HomeFree-USA affiliate network are changing the world one client at a time.

Beata Chovance, housing programs manager for Cambridge Credit Counseling in Massachusetts, has been working with one client for a little bit over a year. The client had a credit score of about 513 and couldn’t understand why she was having difficulty increasing her score.

“She was utilizing pretty much all of her credit and she thought she was doing great because she was paying her bills on time,” Beata says. So Beata explained to her that using a high percentage of available credit can lower your score. Beata helped her come up with a plan to pay down her debts and within a year her credit score increased to 664 putting her in the position of being able to qualify for a mortgage.

Being able to help clients overcome obstacles that are keeping them from homeownership is one of the highlights of the work Beata does. “I love talking to my first-time homebuyers and telling them about programs that they never knew existed. We want to help them be a successful homeowner going forward,” she says.

Gerry Venegas, a counselor with Services of Hope Entities, Inc., in Dallas, recalls working with a client whose parents immigrated to this country from Bangladesh. They had rented their entire lives, but when the client graduated from college he had the income to buy and maintain a household. However, he didn’t know what steps to take to make homeownership a reality. 

Not only did Gerry help him get his credit in order, but he helped him find programs that offered downpayment assistance. At the end of the day, “he only had to bring $200 to closing,” Gerry recalls. “His whole family was just so happy and they were crying about how much progress can be made when you know the right things.”

Gerry finds it incredibly rewarding to be a counselor for a nonprofit organization because he can help people without having to sell them a banking product. As counselors, “we are most interested in the client’s wellbeing,” he says. “That’s what keeps me going.”

At HomeFree-USA, we want to celebrate all our housing counselors in our 50+ affiliate network across the nation who work tirelessly to help families achieve the dream of homeownership and financial stability. From helping clients navigate credit challenges to providing guidance on downpayment assistance programs, these counselors are making a lasting impact in their communities every day. #housingcounselorday