Understanding Credit is Key to a Healthier Community
We know that communities are stronger when homeownership is accessible and affordable for everyone. The Morristown United for Healthy Living coalition (MUHL) is committed to building the capacity of residents, and creating access to homes that everyone can afford. Last year, we hosted a community listening session and heard from residents that one of the barriers to securing a lease to an apartment, or achieving homeownership, is insufficient or poor credit. To address this barrier to housing, we invited one of our coalition partners, Jessica Padilla Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Housing Partnership Neighborworks Homeownership Center, to give a presentation on Credit and Credit Repair.
We learned about:
- What credit is and why it is important
- How to budget
- The different types of credit
- How to establish and maintain good credit
- How to repair credit
- How credit is used to obtain a lease and mortgage
Residents also learned about programs and services available to them such as: free credit and budget counseling; first-time home buyer programs; and home buyer education programs.
Building community capacity and training local leaders is an exciting opportunity to advance our goals of improving access to quality and affordable housing in census tract 435. For more information about Housing Partnership Neighborworks Homeownership Center, please contact Jessica Padilla Gonzalez, Executive Director: Jessica.Padilla@hpnj.us
To learn more about the Morristown United for Healthy Living coalition and our work, please contact morristownunited@njhealthmatters.org or follow us on Facebook: @MorristownUnitedforHealthyLiving