Mrs. Mi and her husband resettled in Akron, Ohio and found jobs working in factories. Mrs. Mi thought that it would be easy to receive a credit card from a bank, but with little credit history, Mrs. Mi was swiftly declined. To her surprise, Mrs. Mi and her husband’s credit score were both zero. Mrs. Mi eventually wanted to receive a loan to buy a house, but knew that she was far from homeownership if she could not establish good credit. In November 2015, Mrs. Mi and her husband met with Asian Services in Action (ASIA)’s bilingual staff to perform an initial intake, understand their needs, and establish an action plan. ASIA’s staff informed Mrs. Mi and her husband that they would need about six months to increase their credit score before they could get a loan for a home. Mrs. Mi and her husband left feeling angry and upset.

Two months later, after Mrs. Mi admitted no other agency would help them because of their limited English proficiency, Mrs. Mi and her husband came back to ASIA and agreed to execute the action plan designed for them.  Mrs. Mi and her husband enrolled in ASIA’s Lending Circle program and attended various group education workshops including financial education, homebuyer education, and one-on-one counseling. ASIA’s housing counselor worked with Mrs. Mi and her husband to guide them through the mortgage process after completing their education so they fully understood their responsibilities as a homeowner. After receiving their first pre-approval, Mrs. Mi came back to ASIA in tears and told staff that they had finally bought a house. Mrs. Mi and her husband had achieved their dream that they once thought would never become a reality

*This is a national partnership with National CAPACD and Asian Services In Action, Inc.*