Giving Back to the Community Through Housing and Financial Counseling

CommunityNovember 12, 2024

The GLCU Foundation for Financial Empowerment is proud to offer free housing and financial counseling to both members and non-members alike. Through housing and financial counseling programming, families improve their financial situation, address their housing needs, and pursue their long-term housing and financial goals.

Whether a client is planning on buying a home, reducing their debt, or saving for retirement, GLCU’s HUD-certified counselors help them get on the path to financial empowerment.

GLCU counselors provide education and counseling in the areas of:

  • Financial management
  • Tenancy
  • Pre-purchase homeownership
  • Post-purchase homeownership
  • Foreclosure intervention

The Foundation’s Housing and Financial Counseling Impact

So far in 2024, the GLCU Foundation has helped save $2,750,000 in assets through foreclosure intervention counseling. This is especially impactful as Illinois has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the U.S.

Additionally, the Foundation holds financial education workshops on a variety of topics. Specifically, each month the Foundation holds a first-time homebuyer seminar covering homeownership readiness and affordability, money and credit management, financing, and the purchase and closing processes.

Carol, one of the GLCU Foundation’s financial counseling clients, attended a first-time homebuyer seminar and learned about getting preapproved for a mortgage, her credit score, eligibility requirements for mortgage assistance, and much more. Carol said the 6-hour workshop was, “very informative, and the speakers from the GLCU Foundation were empowering.”

Shevon Johnson, a HUD-certified housing and financial counselor at the GLCU Foundation for Financial Empowerment, assisted Carol with the homebuying process, helped her find a mortgage lender, and helped her receive the down payment assistance she was eligible for as a first-time homebuyer.

“I am extremely grateful for all the awesome assistance that Shevon and the GLCU Foundation provided to me. Your seminars really empowered me to take the next step in my journey and achieve my dream,” Carol said.

Support the Foundation

The GLCU Foundation’s HUD-approved housing and financial counseling program is one of the largest in the state of Illinois, and GLCU is one of only a handful of credit unions in the country to offer such a program to the communities it serves.

The GLCU Foundation wouldn’t be able to do the impactful work it does without the support of its partners and donors. Please consider donating to the GLCU Foundation for Financial Empowerment this GivingTuesday!

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