Patty’s Story: Solutions to Challenges
Patty knows no one plans to get stuck. No one wants to feel like they have nowhere to turn. No one plans to be hopeless with helplessness. But that is exactly where Patty found herself two years ago. Up to that point, Patty was a thriving, dedicated stay-at-home mom to her young son, Robbie. Suddenly she was a single parent, in dire financial straits, and terrified she could not provide for her young son.
A referral sent her to Bethel Center for Strong Families where she connected with a Sound Outreach financial coach and found the support she desperately needed.
Sound Outreach has an endless supply of resources. Don’t get defeated. There are solutions out there and Sound Outreach knows where to find them.
Patty’s financial counselor helped her establish financial goals, including improving her credit scores and creating an emergency fund. Patty says she didn’t necessarily have bad credit when she sought help, but she wanted to make sure she kept it that way while she worked to support her son. Her counselor stepped to advocate on her behalf and was able to help her dispute bills. Patty was then free to focus on the strategy they created together to pay off her four maxed-out credit cards. When she started working with Sound Outreach, Patty’s credit score was 618 – considered in the ‘fair’ range by lenders. She is down to one credit card and her credit score is now over 800 – scores in this range are at the top of the list for the best rates from lenders.
As she paid off her credit cards, she began slowly but steadily putting money away to build her emergency fund. Patty says that “has been the best decision of my life.” Her goal was to have 3 month’s rent saved. With guidance from her financial counselor, she made that goal and then some. The diligence paid off when COVID-19 hit – for the first time in her life, Patty had a safety net.
Patty credits Sound Outreach by putting her in the position to confidently weather the current economic storm. She has the tools she needs to continue to build her financial foundation and knows support is only a Sound Outreach call away.
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