What if there was a place that connected those in challenging life situations with economic education and resources for free?
Since 1989, the Center for Changing Lives has done just that. The center, which now serves Chicagoans experiencing homelessness or housing or financial hardship, was founded to aid unhoused people by providing food and shelter.
Over the years, its mission has shifted to a more preventative approach focused on expanding financial literacy and access to resources. CCL works to prevent homelessness by targeting its root causes, pursuing economic justice and building community. Staff help members access credit, employment and career pathways and grant programs.
All of CCL’s services are free, bilingual in English and Spanish, and open to the public. The center prides itself on working alongside participants to achieve their goals — whether that’s employment, stable housing, starting a small business or overcoming financial barriers.
“We’re working alongside our members. There’s no power dynamic, there’s no hierarchy,” said Julio Pensamiento, CCL’s strategic partnership coordinator. “We put our members in the driver’s seat and we’re in the passenger seat giving directions and manning the radio, that kind of thing. Whereas other social service providers, it’s very much like a taxicab approach. The counselor is in the driver’s seat, the members kind of in the backseat, there’s not a lot of dialogue, not a lot of input.”
One branch of education and assistance CCL provides is HUD-approved housing counseling and related financial coaching. Last year, the center offered housing counseling to more than 640 households.
Austin Weekly News sat down with Pensamiento to hear more about CCL’s mission and offerings, with a particular focus on the center’s work with prospective homebuyers.
What services does CCL provide for prospective homeowners?
Homeownership is not just finding a house to buy — there’s a lot of legwork that goes behind that and we recognize that. So for us, it’s a long-term sustainability approach. Rather than, “Hey, let’s get you in this tremendous debt without any additional resources and education,” we want to be able to prepare individuals and make sure that they’re making this decision thoughtfully and carefully.
For us, homeownership starts with pre-purchase counseling, and making sure that there’s financial literacy, financial education and learning. At the same time, we’re also taking a look at a person’s income, their employment status to make sure they’re making enough money to be able to afford a mortgage and utilities; rent if they’re currently renting, in addition to resource development. [e look at] what other mainstream public benefits we can get folks to apply for that will help cut down on their overall expenses, so that they can take advantage of some of these free or low-cost resources. It’s building out and making sure that it’s a sustainable opportunity for individuals.
We also see it as a wealth-building opportunity. We work with some of the most vulnerable populations in the city of Chicago and we want to make sure that we’re equipping them delicately and properly to create an avenue of wealth for them and future generations.
What is the importance of housing counseling?
We don’t want folks to rush into these major decisions without having all the appropriate knowledge and pieces of information. As a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, we are a neutral third party, so we just strive to educate and empower as much as possible the families that we seek to serve — we’re talking very low (area median income), people who have very low credit scores, or are perhaps unscored. What we try to do is empower and educate. We don’t want folks to be taken advantage of. There’s a lot of information out there — a lot of the big partners we work with have different mortgage lending products and programs. Our job is to present a neutral opinion of “Hey, these are the opportunities available to you. Let’s get you ready.” We don’t want folks to go into this major life decision without knowing the repercussions.
Should an adverse situation come up in the future, there is post-purchase counseling. We’re always going to be in your corner to provide you with resources and [help you navigate] all the different information that may be out there.
Retention is really big for us. We want our folks to continue to come to us, even after they’ve closed. There’s still more knowledge out there about becoming a homeowner. There are still opportunities for us to continue engaging in long-term success.
Is there anything prospective home buyers should be cautious of?
There are a lot of scams. There are a lot of predatory lending practices that are out there, for example, payday loans, which is such a big culprit, especially in our communities. I’m naming that one in particular because we service and we tend to see a lot of our members accessing those kinds of services. For us, it’s really important to educate our individuals and let them know these are scams.
As a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, we want to be able to provide all the knowledge. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to act on that information however they see fit, but we have to do our due diligence to expose and share that information with our family. That’s where I think bilingual services also come into play. The services for the Spanish-speaking community are few and far between. We stand tall and proud to be able to service these individuals, not just in English, but in Spanish, and do so with quality and intentionality.
What are some challenges that people who are undocumented may face in the homebuying process?
The home-buying process requires a substantial downpayment, depending on the price of the home, location and finances. So that in and of itself is already a struggle –letting folks to be able to meet that savings goal to be able to pay for a downpayment. There are many bank partners that offer downpayment assistance programs, but they are inaccessible for individuals who are ITIN holders, and even less so for folks who don’t have any credit history or scores or proper documentation. That dwindles opportunities for individuals to build wealth.
We need to assess what folks are eligible for. Do you have an ITIN? Do you have a Social? Do you have a visa? What kind of documentation do you currently have? It’s about exploring what folks currently have and looking within our wheelhouse to educate them on those decisions.
Individuals who are undocumented or even ITIN holders are deemed as ‘riskier’ clients to offer a mortgage loan to. For us, it’s [about] educating and working with the right partners at every step of the process. It’s getting the point across to our partners to let them know, “Hey, this population is huge.” It’s trying to turn that viewpoint that our families are “riskier” and therefore deserve a higher interest rate — that should never be the case.
Some of these doors are automatically shut for families and that’s unjust and unfair. For every step of the process, we can vouch [for them] and let it be known that these folks are suffering. That’s what we’re here for.