Providing Tools for Self-Sufficiency

If Kasey, of Greenville, South Carolina is anything, she is resolute. Kasey was employed working the night shift in her manufacturing job when she first walked into a Self-Help branch. She’s no stranger to formidable challenges, like overcoming addiction, and difficult decisions, like the one to turn down a pay increase because the accompanying work schedule would have interfered with her carefully managed childcare schedule. What she found at Self-Help were tools she didn’t know existed and people who took her seriously.

Kasey came to Front Porch Housing in Greenville during a period when she was, in her words, vulnerable and worn out. Front Porch is a long-standing Self-Help partner that provides stable housing and wraparound support to people working toward self-sufficiency. Self-Help works with Front Porch to provide financial literacy training to its program participants. It was there that Kasey began to rebuild. She had four children and her youngest was with her. Her plan was to follow her own motto: keep moving forward.

In spring 2023, Kasey’s car broke down. A Front Porch staff member encouraged her to go to Self-Help and apply for a loan to buy another car. Kasey, who had no credit history at all, figured she wouldn’t qualify. But she went in anyway and met with the helpful staff at the Self-Help branch who used her insurance and phone payment history as alternative credit. Kasey was approved for a loan and purchased a Honda Accord. Six months later, as she worked to increase her savings, she noticed her credit score had jumped to the high 600s. Then she took advantage of a savings match program through Front Porch and saved $7,000.

Kasey offers advice for anyone else facing a tough financial situation: “Work on your credit, go to Self-Help and get a credit builder loan, make payments on time, save money, even if only five dollars, save it. Create the habit of saving. Don’t touch it."

When the time came to move out of Front Porch, Kasey figured she’d rent a place, but rents were expensive, and she wanted to have space for her son to have his own room. Having been unhoused at one point in her life, Kasey approached this moment with caution. Considering the rents she was seeing, she wondered if she could save money by purchasing a home, but she figured there was no way she’d qualify for a mortgage.

After finding a house for sale that she liked, Kasey pushed past self-doubt and went back to Self-Help to apply for a mortgage. Self-Help team members were able to qualify Kasey for a mortgage and also help her access two down payment assistance programs totaling $27,500. The home is now hers: a three-bedroom house with a front yard and a backyard. Her mortgage payment is less than the least expensive rental she could find, her commute to work went from nearly an hour down to 15 minutes, and her son’s daycare is minutes away.

When she got the keys to her home, Kasey said, “It felt like the biggest accomplishment ever.” She added, “I said I was going to do it, and I did it.”

Kasey (left) celebrating closing on her home with Sharon, her care coordinator from Front Porch Housing.