Virgie’s Story

/in /by

With rising rent, increased cost of living, limited income, and a shortage of affordable housing or care-assistance housing, seniors in Pierce County face many challenges. Earlier this year, Virgie, a senior living in Pierce County reached out to Sound Outreach with a request for financial counseling. Virgie’s roommate passed away and she found herself no longer able to pay her rent. Then, her landlord presented her with a move out notice for the end of the following month. Struggling to manage her housing costs and worried that she urgently needed to find a new place to live, she started working with Sound Outreach.

With the assistance of Martin Pirgiotis, the Sound Outreach Silver Program financial counselor, Virgie created an action plan, budget, and a strategy for negotiating with her creditors. Martin also connected Virgie with a pro bono legal organization to help her understand her legal rights and negotiate with her landlord. Through Zoom meetings and phone calls, Martin worked with Virgie over several months as she worked through the action plan.

Martin said, “I was delighted when Virgie told me that the legal assistance organization that I referred her to had been able to help her extend her move out date. Even better, Virgie told me that she had used the strategies that I shared with her to negotiate with her creditors successfully. Virgie had the confidence to call her creditors, negotiate terms and amounts, and reduce her overall debt by over 2000 dollars. I am very excited to see the progress that Virgie has been able to make in such a short time. Helping seniors like Virgie attain financial stability using my training and resources at Sound Outreach is the most fulfilling part of my job.”

Sophia’s Story

/in /by

When Sophia, a senior Pierce County resident, was faced with the pandemic, an ailing family member and a struggling new business, she didn’t know where to turn, until she found Sound Outreach. “Little did I suspect that I would find sound financial advice, a plethora of informational resources, and careful follow ups to each and every one of the conversations I have had with[my counselor] Martin Pirgiotis.”

Martin meets with clients over Zoom and on the phone to make sure that their needs are taken care of and while the situation may not be optimal, the results speak for themselves. As Sophia put it: “I was thinking of all the awful things that have happened during 2020…but an enormous smile comes to my face when I think of my long conversations with Martin. … Martin turned out to be not only extremely knowledgeable and resourceful but cheerful, funny, honest, and a holder of savvy local resource information.”

Martin worked with Sophia through the summer of 2020 to discuss her small business and personal finances. Through their meetings Sophia’s credit score went up while her debt went down and she is now in the process of buying her first home. Due to being more financially stable, she feels empowered to take on the next step in caring for her family, be a homeowner and continue her journey in life.

“I couldn’t be happier! If someone had told me that my financial counseling sessions would be this fun I never would have believed it. Thank you Sound Outreach for having Martin work with you. He is a life changer and a dear, dear financial counselor.”

Anthony’s Story: A Go-To Resource for a Family

/in /by

Anthony is the married father of three children and primary bread-winner for his family.  When he was faced with mounting debt and stress, he was at a loss for where to turn.  That’s when he found Sound Outreach.

“Several years ago I was severely in debt. We were behind on our mortgage and suffering from the stress that inevitably accompanies this. I did not know where to turn. That is when I came across an email for South Sound Outreach. I scheduled a meeting with them to discuss any options that might help my family. They welcomed me with open arms and ideas for a solution. They showed me how to budget our income, how to understand and fix our credit, how to access government grants and funds, how to tap into mental and physical health resources and so much more. They completely turned my personal and financial situation around in a positive direction. They continue to be my “go to” resource for almost anything I need. They will also help you secure the most optimum employment position, as they did with my wife, as well as help her personally apply for assistance in areas. They have many employment connections and can show you how to thrive in your current career. Overall I would highly recommend South Sound Outreach as your number 1 resource for personal, family and financial well being and future. If you need help, like my family did, do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call them today. Give yourself the best chance possible to get on the right path. Go with South Sound Outreach.”

Susanna’s Story: Staying Accountable

/in /by

Susanna is a mother of five who has faced many obstacles while her husband is incarcerated.  After being asked to leave base housing, she lived in homelessness with her children – starting when her children were ages 10 to 1 week. Overwhelmed with responsibility and worry about her children’s basic needs and emotional health, she never gave up and did what she had to do to provide for her children. More than once that determination got her through disappointment. Despite her many struggles and challenges, Susanna finished schooling to be a dental assistant while living in a shelter with her kids.  At one point, Susanna let her dental assistant license lapse and decided to go back to school to pursue her dream of being a Fashion Designer.  Only to have the design school she was attending close. Depressed, frustrated, worried, and looking for direction, Susanna took a friend’s advice and made an appointment with Lynn at Sound Outreach.

Lynn worked with Susanna to set goals and design a plan to get back on a career path. When she missed an appointment, Lynn called to check up on her only to find out Susanna was at a dentist appointment with her son. Lynn saw an opportunity and pushed Susanna to ask if the clinic was hiring.  Lynn then helped Susanna fill out an application and she was hired as soon as she renewed her license. Susanna knows that her employment coach changed her life.

There are a lot of ways to get help but at Sound Outreach you get help only a plan but a coach that holds you accountable.  A lot of people need that. I know I did.

Susanna took her coaching seriously and was re-certified and started working in September.  She is in stable housing and is following her financial plan.  However, she did not escape the effects of COVID-19.  Her hours were cut to a week a month.  Susanna says she didn’t really have time to worry about what that would mean for her financially or to her housing, “

Lynn was on the phone with me immediately. She made sure I was signing up for the services I needed and encouraged me to make a plan to stretch my stimulus check.

Taking her lead from Sound Outreach, Susanna has been diligent with paying bills and paying rent in advance. She’s been proactive in contacting creditors to set up payment plans.  Susanna says Lynn and Sound Outreach didn’t forget about her or let her slip into old habits.  Instead, she is investing the coaching and advice she’s received in her financial security so she can support her children – all five of them.

Because of the generosity of our sponsors and community, Sound Outreach can support people like Susanna. Please consider a gift of support to Sound Outreach.

Patty’s Story: Solutions to Challenges

/in /by

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.

Because of the generosity of our sponsors and community, Sound Outreach can support people like Patty. Please consider a gift of support to Sound Outreach.

Kimberly & Mariam’s Story: Invitation to Make an Impact

/in , /by

Sound Outreach’s dedication to financial literacy, education, coaching and counseling is empowering to its clients and inspiring to me.

An invitation to a fundraising luncheon three years ago opened a door to Mariam Anderson that would lead her to yearly donations to Sound Outreach and, eventually, giving away a car.

Mariam is a long-time resident of Tacoma and an active participant in the community.  She is also a friend of Julie Anderson, Pierce County Auditor.  In 2017 Julie, a new board member to Sound Outreach invited Mariam to our annual Community Assets fundraising luncheon.  Mariam says it was the first time she had heard of Sound Outreach but tells us that after the luncheon: “I left inspired by this agency that offered a sustainable concept to support our community.”

Mariam has been a faithful attendee to the luncheons and a regular financial supporter ever since.  But it was at the 2019 DRIVEN-themed luncheon that Mariam felt inspired to do more.  After listening to client stories, guest speakers, board members, and Executive Director Bryan Flint, Mariam saw an opportunity to make a U-turn. Instead of selling a car she and her husband owned, Mariam decided to donate a car to a Sound Outreach client.

Not long after, Sound Outreach made a match between Mariam’s wish and a client in need. Kimberly was working with a financial counselor and trying to build a solid foundation for her young son and herself.  It was stressful not having reliable transportation. Relying on buses or the kindness of family or friends, making it difficult to get to work on time and get her son, Angel, to preschool. Mariam’s gift of a car dramatically changed Kimberly’s life.

Mariam believes that while Sound Outreach is contributing to a community of individuals who need help getting out of tough situations, it does it proactively through “education and coaching, not handouts” – a positive path forward for so many.

Sound Outreach counsels, teaches, and coaches its clients to take those small steps now so they can make big strides later. I want to give what I can, when I can, so that work continues.

All these months later, Mariam has no regrets about handing over those car keys to Kimberly.  She believes “the car is a daily reminder for Kimberly to make sound decisions.”  While the gift was generous, Mariam prefers to think of it as “an invitation for others with the means to make an impact.  It doesn’t have to be with a car.  It can be with a monthly or one-time donation.”

Please consider joining Mariam in financially supporting the work we do at Sound Outreach with your gift of support.

Antonio’s Story: Set Up For Success

/in /by

Antonio came to Sound Outreach frustrated with the challenges of finding an employer who would take a chance on him. He worked hard to earn his AA degree at Pierce College despite a learning disability. He invested the time to better himself so he could do more for his family.  For too long, he says, he watched his “wife head off to work every day to support our four children.” Antonio was determined to change the course of his life and that of his family.

I contributed my disability check, but it was never enough. I went to school so we could do more than live paycheck to paycheck.

Antonio enrolled at Pierce College to get the education he needed to work in a field that supported his natural abilities – computers. Unfortunately, earning an AA wasn’t enough, he needed to get job experience, but he wasn’t sure how to make that happen. Then through a recommendation from his son’s school, Antonio met Employment Coach Lynn Willis at the Sound Outreach Bethel office.  He says, “that first meeting was the beginning of a new life” for him and his family.

First, Lynn advocated for Antonio to get a much-needed internship which led to a job.  Antonio says his new job gave him a fulfillment he had not felt before – he was finally a working contributor to his family.  That joy hit a wall a week after he started his job when COVID-19 derailed the state and country.  Antonio was the first person on the payroll to be laid off.

Antonio says he didn’t have a chance to feel anxious or defeated. Within days of being laid off and the Governor’s Stay Home order, Lynn was on the phone asking him what he needed. Antonio says the concern coming immediately from Sound Outreach has strengthened his resolve to ride out the stay-at-home orders until he is called back to work.  Because of his employment coach at Sound Outreach, Antonio believes

“I’m set up for success. I am organized and ready to get back to work when I get the call.”

Because of the generosity of our sponsors and community, Sound Outreach can support people like Antonio. Please consider a gift of support to Sound Outreach.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Decision to Thrive

/in /by

Eric describes his first meeting with Sound Outreach as intimidating for him. Even though he was ready to focus on being a role model for his three children and embrace his goals to “be successful in life,” he wasn’t convinced that strangers would invest in him and help him find his way.  That fear soon changed when he met with a counselor and learned about the services available through Sound Outreach, particularly the Tool Center (Trade Occupations Opportunity Learning Center). Operated by Bates Technical College and partially funded by the City of Tacoma, the Tool Center is a 13-week Pre-Apprenticeship program that prepares individuals for employment in the trades. Eric was quick to pass the entrance requirements and enrolled in the Tool Center. As part of his participation in the program, Eric was connected to a Sound Outreach financial counselor and soon realized he had found the qualified help he needed to guide his way to financial empowerment.

Eric came to Sound Outreach after a series of bad decisions landed him in jail.  Facing the possibility of losing his children, he made the decision while still behind bars to do whatever necessary to become a better father and a better man.

Upon his release from prison and after years of battling addiction, Eric enrolled in a chemical dependency program.  He attended parenting classes and got counseling for domestic violence.  He put himself on a path of improvement but realized he needed help as he took his next step – finding a career path and becoming a positive member of society.

Since graduating from the TOOL Center program, Eric has found a new sense of commitment not only to his family and children but to the community at large.  His high-wage job as an electrical worker would seem to be a landing point for some.  For Eric, it is just the next step forward.  His passion is to advise, mentor and be an inspiration for others. He’s already found a way to do so as he often shares his personal story at treatment centers and regularly visits new students in the Tool Center to be the example of “how to get over the bumps and find a better life.” 

Eric continues to grow in his career, working on more training and certifications. He now has his children with him full-time. And he says, for the first time since he was 19, he has a car, insurance, and his own credit card.  He hopes to one day buy his own home. With is undying enthusiasm, commitment, and willingness to grow, we have no doubt Eric will realize all his dreams for the future.

Sound Outreach is currently recruiting for the March 2020 cohort for the TOOL Center. If you are interested fill out an inquiry form to sign-up for an upcoming orientation.

A Story of RISE

/in /by

 

A Story of RISE – Learn how our client Clay has worked with Employment Specialist Joseph Denton to make strides in his professional journey. Photo by: Matthew G via Flickr

 

Clay entered the Sound Outreach’s Resources to Initiate Successful Employment (RISE) Program in May 2017. Prior to his enrollment he had been unemployed five years, homeless for four of those years, and been in and out of jail. He attributes his inability to gain and maintain employment as a direct result of his ongoing battle with addiction, mental illness, and unresolved trauma.

“Before coming to Sound Outreach, I didn’t know what opportunities existed for me. Through working with this organization I was able to learn about several. Not only that, but I was also given some of the tools I needed to create opportunities for myself. I finally see that success is something I can achieve. Sound Outreach is a major influence in that discovery.”

Sound Outreach transferred Clay from RISE into the Center for Strong Families program where, for two years, he will have continued access to support in financial counseling and career development.

“Clay is an incredibly kind, ambitious, and bright young man who gave everything he had in an attempt to change his life for the better,” said Joseph Denton, Clay’s RISE caseworker. “Clay is a warrior.”

Since focusing on his recovery and keeping it his No. 1 priority, Clay has made huge progress. He recently celebrated nine months of continuous recovery.

That progress has helped Clay maintain his current job while simultaneously attending a six-week life skills hosted by Worksource Tacoma entitled, Strategies for Success. Coming from a diverse background in the Culinary Arts with “Sous Chef” on his resume, he quickly became gained part-time employment working as a line chef.

Upon completion of the Worksource program, Clay identified a career path of either Human Services or Medical Services. Driven by the need to help those less fortunate, he accepted an internship with Pierce Co. Aids Foundation (PCAF). He voluntarily provides outreach, educational, prevention services for our community.

Clay’s future ambitions are to continue his volunteer work at PCAF and he has enrolled in Tacoma Community College to begin his education in Nursing. Right now, he’s taking important steps on the way toward that goal. He works as a server at a Tacoma restaurant and is saving for his first car.

Thank you to Joseph Denton, Clay’s caseworker, for the text to this story!

Creative Commons-licensed photo courtesy of Matthew G.

Starting the Financial Counseling Journey

/in /by

Jennifer Watson (left) with her Sound Outreach Financial Counselor, Julie Tran.

When we heard about Jennifer Watson’s story, we learned what determination was.

Having overcome homelessness, joblessness, and a heart-wrenching health scare for her daughter who was born with a respiratory issue, Jennifer kept seeking ways to help herself and her family (she also has a son). Even when she had to stop working or attending classes to care full-time for her daughter, she kept her goals in front of her. It wasn’t easy though: as her situation dragged on, she felt her professional skills erode.

Two things changed the game for Jennifer: through her perseverance (and a bit of luck), she landed an interview for an entry-level DSHS job that would build her skills toward becoming a Financial Services Assistant. She nailed the interview and got the job, and because her income increased, she was referred to a Sound Outreach Financial Counselor.

When someone meets with a Sound Outreach Financial Counselor for the first time, one of the things we check is a person’s credit history. Jennifer’s credit score? She had no idea, because she hadn’t looked in years; she figured it would just be bad news. Without work, she had felt powerless to change that so she felt better not knowing. “Not only financially, but mentally, I wasn’t ready to worry about credit or anything. I just wasn’t there,” she said.

Jennifer knew her credit score was important information. She had taken a financial literacy course at Goodwill years ago that explained the basics of credit and savings. Seeing how this information could help her was a different story.

When she was young, she had been the victim of financial fraud. She lost her trust in banks, which she thought was supposed to prevent such theft. “I was really young, and I was never guided financially,” she said. Instead, she stashed money away throughout the house, in clothes, anywhere that wasn’t a bank. Some years later, she tried again: “I got an account and the next day I shut it down because I was so overwhelmed.”

Jennifer’s Financial Counselor, Julie, learned all this by spending time talking to Jennifer and hearing her story over several meetings. Julie set about rebuilding Jennifer’s trust in financial institutions. She quickly realized that while Jennifer was feeling overwhelmed, she was already doing the hard work: to keep her family going, Jennifer had created a handwritten budgeting system for herself, meticulously listing out all her spending and trying to plan for the weeks ahead.

sound-outreach-jennifer-watson

A sample of Jennifer’s handwritten budget, which she used to track weekly expenses.

Julie saw how effective Jennifer’s method was but felt even more impressed by the goals Jennifer had set for herself. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Julie helped Jennifer put all the pieces together, starting with showing Jennifer that her credit score wasn’t as bad as she feared – she just had to look at it first. In a moment, Jennifer’s doubt was gone. Her credit score wasn’t terrible. It was good enough to start imagining possibilities. She had thought it was “so far gone that nothing was possible.” Now, talking to Julie, even her goal of home ownership seemed achievable, and she was all in.

One day, just after a financial counseling session with Julie, Jennifer walks into a credit union and opens new savings and checking accounts. “With the hope that [Julie] gave me, pulling my credit score and just seeing that I can do things to build the score to be able to get into a home is what did it.” She was on her way.

At the same time she opened the accounts, she also committed to a strict savings routine. Julie had no idea all this was happening – until their next meeting. Jennifer arrived for her meeting with Julie and excitedly proclaimed that not only had she opened new accounts, she had also saved by using her handwritten budgets to squeeze out small amounts every week. In the three months since Jennifer last saw Julie, she had pulled together over $400 – just in time to pay for a birthday party for her daughter, who was now healthier and fast approaching her 7thbirthday.

If Jennifer could have offered herself advice when she was younger, she would have told herself to get a knowledgeable advocate and have an open mind at the 1stmeeting. Luckily, Financial Counselors like Julie are here to be exactly that kind of advocate.

To learn more how Sound Outreach’s financial counseling services can help you build your financial management skills to achieve your financial goals, visit us at www.soundoutreach.org/services. Like with Jennifer, one of our AFCPE-certified Financial Counselors can help you take the first steps in your journey toward prosperity.

For more information about ways you can get involved with Sound Outreach, please visit www.soundoutreach.org/you-can-help.