When a friend from church encouraged her to apply for Interfaith’s Kansas IDA Program for first-time homeownership, Angel was hesitant. After some careful thought, Angel decided to take her friend’s advice. She applied for the program, and in June of 2015, she enrolled in the program and opened her IDA account.
Angel faced several hurdles as she started the program-income, budgeting, and a low credit score. However, throughout her time in the program, Angel embraced the financial education, credit counseling, credit building, and homebuyer education offered through the program. As she started incorporating the new skills she was learning, her confidence began to build. She saw her credit score start to rise, she was able to secure a better paying position with her employer, and she was making great progress on her savings goal of $3,000.
Angel came to Interfaith with the dream of homeownership, and in December of 2018, her hard work and dedication paid off. She was able to purchase her dream home--a five bedroom, three bathroom home. Her children, ranging from ages 3 to 17, are so happy to live in a safe, spacious home that provides plenty of options for a toy room, bedrooms, and space to call their own. Her eight year old stated, “My favorite place to play is in the back yard where we have a swing and a big slide.”
Angel recognizes that homeownership is different, because she is now responsible for everything that needs to be fixed or maintained, but she finds homeownership to be so much more rewarding. She maintains her emergency savings for unexpected expenses and is very cautious with burdening herself financially. Besides being a new home owner, the biggest difference Angel notices is the financial stability she has gained through this experience. Sticking with it and the feeling of accomplishment in completing goals, big or small, is something she will always remember.
“The IDA program gave me the knowledge and skills to live a financially secure life.” – Angel Brawner