When Lisa first approached Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC)’s Family Prosperity Services, she was unemployed and living on the savings she had accumulated in hopes of one day buying a home. She was struggling to keep up with the rent for the apartment she shared with her son. This led to multiple late payments on other accounts like her credit cards. In addition, she had been ignoring her student loans for years, believing that she did not have the income to get on a better payment plan.  

When she met with her financial coach for the first time, she was skeptical she would be able to resolve the student loans in collections. She was sure her tax return was going to be withheld even though she needed the money for living expenses. 

In her first 2 coaching sessions she worked on bringing her credit card payments up-to-date, created a short-term budget, planned to get back on her employment search and called the student loan administrators. Six months later, she had begun working, created a payment plan for her student loans, maintained on-time credit card payments and has begun saving for retirement, college for her child and a down payment on a home.  

In moving towards these goals, Lisa worked with JPNDC in 2019 to enroll in a pilot rent reporting program that integrated rent reporting as a credit building strategy. The program, launched in 2017 by NALCAB with TA support from the Credit Builders Alliance, sought to build the financial capability of tenants in affordable rental housing communities that are owned or operated by Latino-serving nonprofit organizations, like JPNDC. 

Over the course of 10 months, Lisa has seen her credit score increase by more than 30 points and nearing a prime credit score. An unexpected outcome from Lisa’s experience was her also becoming a resident leader in her apartment building and joining one of the resident committees at JPNDC.