Denethia Steadman came in for her initial counseling session in October of 2020 after attending a Homebuyer Education Class with this agency. The client had a goal of buying a home by January of this year but promptly realized that her home purchasing goal had to be postponed as her credit scores were in the mid 500’s and she also had little money saved. She wanted to apply for down payment and closing assistance that was offered by the City of Tampa’s Dare to Own the Dream Program but her credit and savings prevented her from applying. She also encountered many obstacles including a bout with Covid with one of her children. The plan prepared for this client was to first work on her budget and a monthly budget to follow was prepared with this client’s approval. This budget allowed the client to account for every cent also allowing her to pay all of her financial responsibilities on time while saving a modicum amount of money every month.

Then, the client also picked up a part time job using the earnings strictly to pay down bad debt and reducing the balances on existing and active debts.
As a result, the client’s credit scores slowly improved and at this time she has increased the credit scores by over 100 points. Her credit is now considered to be in good shape!

Her budgeting efforts paired with her part time job has also allowed the client to save approximately $3000.00.
The good credit and savings have now resulted in the client been eligible to apply for down payment and closing assistance not only with the City of Tampa’s Dare to Own the Dream Program but also with East Tampa CRA with a new target to buy a home before the end of the present year.