Desiree J. started working with Innovative Changes 6 weeks ago, in mid-June 2010. Her pay and rent cycles misalign, so for months she’d been forced to pay her rent late, accumulating late charges. The $500 Opportunity Loan and financial education provided by Innovative Changes is helping Desiree stabilize her finances.
“My last loan was a car loan, they never told me the terms,” Desiree said. “[Innovative Changes] explained everything about interest, payments, and credit.”
With the loan, Desiree can pay her rent on time again and use what she was spending on the late fee for other expenses.
“I can apply the late fee to the loan [payment],” she said.
In addition to the 1-year Opportunity Loan, Desiree is learning, through individual coaching, to create and follow a budget and how to understand and improve her credit report.
“They explained the credit report to me,” Desiree said. “That was something I didn’t understand. I want to build my credit and work my way up toward home ownership.”
According to Carmina Lass, Innovative Changes’ Financial Education and Loan Program Manager, ”"Desiree was already using by herself a lot of methods we teach. She just needed an extra boost and we provided it.”
Desiree’s nearer-term goal is to start her own part-time, gift-items business within 6 months. She said, “the loan will help me save enough money for the business investment.”
Living in the New Columbia neighborhood, Desiree likes the program’s flexibility. “With a full-time job and two little kids, working with Innovative Changes fits my schedule.”
Desiree was referred to Innovative Changes by the Housing Authority of Portland’s Opportunity Housing Initiative (OHI), a self-sufficiency program based in the New Columbia neighborhood.
