Growing up in Nigeria, Dabeluchukwu rarely heard of anyone buying a house right out of college. In fact, “it’s unheard of to even get a home in your thirties unless your parents are extremely rich,” she says. But while she was a student at Fisk University, she learned about the Center for Financial Advancement® (CFA) and realized homeownership was a real possibility.
Center for Financial Advancement® is a program that aims to enhance financial literacy, professional development, leadership, and homeownership knowledge among students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). As a Center for Financial Advancement® scholar, Dabeluchukwu learned about the importance of managing her credit and how homeownership can put you on the path to build wealth.
She also learned about how HomeFree-USA Chief Operations Officer Milan Griffin had bought a house and rented out rooms when she graduated from college. Dabeluchukwu was inspired and wanted to start building wealth early in her life, too. “My mom tells me that when I ran into her room that day to share that story, she knew I was going to run after the dream of homeownership,” she says.
And her mom was right. In her junior year of college, Dabeluchukwu started working toward making the dream a reality. While other students were focused on campus activities, she was thinking about increasing her credit score. She had seen another Center for Financial Advancement® scholar, Nicholas Whiteside, become a homeowner and she sought his advice. She focused on putting money aside that she earned through various internships. She also worked with a HomeFree-USA Homeownership Advisor to make sure she was mortgage ready.
After graduating in May of 2024, Dabeluchukwu became a first-time homeowner later that year. Today she’s not only a homeowner but she works as a business and data analyst at Morgan Stanley. She credits Center for Financial Advancement® with helping her not only to recognize her ability to be a homeowner, but for helping her make great strides professionally. “Center for Financial Advancement® has helped me improve when it comes to collaboration, time management, organization, and leadership,” she says. “Center for Financial Advancement® helped me to unlock my fullest potential.”
Learn more about Center for Financial Advancement®.
Lend a Student a Hand Up
The Center for Financial Advancement® Hand-Up® Fund provides underprivileged students with food, books, housing, graduation expenses, medical assistance, and urgent support when family tragedy strikes.
