Community Housing Resource Center

March 2010  

From the Executive Director

Hello,

I begin this month’s newsletter with a sincere thank you to everyone who attended our tenth annual Home Is Where the Heart Is breakfast.  Thanks to your support, the event was as successful as the work we’ve been doing all year.   

I’d especially like to thank our Gold and Silver sponsors, JP Morgan Chase and Columbia Credit Union.  I’m pleased to welcome Chase as a first-time sponsor of this event.  I am equally pleased that Columbia Credit Union continued their steadfast support of our work by once again sponsoring the event.  In the article below we take a moment to reflect upon our long and rich partnership with Columbia Credit Union.

Although our Home Is Where the Heart Is event is over, we are still in the heart of tax season and AARP-Tax Aide volunteers continue to do a fantastic job preparing tax returns at the Center. I’m very proud of this partnership and its positive impact on our clients.

Finally, I’d like to introduce you to Teri Owen.  Teri is the Housing Services Coordinator for Second Step Housing and a former client here at the Center.  Her story is truly remarkable, and I’m pleased to share it with you below.   

With much thanks,

Teri Duffy, Executive Director

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Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

In 2010, Columbia Credit Union was a Silver Sponsor of our Home Is Where the Heart Is breakfast for the third year in a row.  We’re grateful for their support, both institutionally and through the volunteerism of their employees.  It’s a partnership that goes back at least ten years. 

Most recently, Columbia Credit Union's Pam Baker has been serving on the CHRC Board since 2006 and the members of her mortgage team, Lisa Thompson, Cathy Boespflug, and Sandy Borchers, have been some of our most dependable volunteers.

The Credit Union also refers its members to our first-time homebuyer education and financial education courses.  “We’re very much into education of our membership,” remarks Pam. “It’s a great partnership for us.”

In addition to Columbia Credit Union, we would like to recognize the organizations and individuals who supported our efforts through the first quarter of the year.

Corporations, Foundations and Public Sector

Bank of America Home Loans, Banner Bank, Chicago Title, Clark County, Clark County Title Company, Debbie Clinton Insurance Agency, Evergreen Home Loans, Family Financial Resource Center, Golf Savings Bank, Home Builders Escrow, Home Inspections of Clark County, HomeStreet Bank, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Marketing Matters, New Tradition Homes, NW Natural, OnPoint Community Credit Union, PGP Valuation, Inc., Reverse Mortgage Group, Riverview Community Bank, Security Signs, Stewart Title, United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, Unitus Community Credit Union, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Vancouver Housing Authority, Washington Lodge #4 of Freemasons, Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Washington State Housing Finance Commission, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, YWCA Clark County 

Individuals

Kimberly Blake Pincheira, Steve Bowmer, Tony Brouhard, Chuck Callum, Mark Campbell, Chrissy Cole, Sherry Davis, Stephanie Diaz, Leslie Girard, Marcel Goulet, Patti Griffith, Kris Hanson, Donna Harris, Jennifer Hatch, Leah Higgins, Don Houston, Jaima Johnson, Roy Johnson, Brenda Jose, Carol Keljo, Jen Matheson, Karl Millar, Paul Montague, Teresa Munn, Carol Pontsler, Brandon Posey, Larry Smith, Steve Stuart, Jim Temple, Theresa Wagner, Keith Wall, Brent Warren, Karen Wright, Paola Zarate

Thanks to each of you.  We simply couldn’t do it without you. For a list of past donors, please visit our Partners page.

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Tax Credits Boost Income

David Walseth and Karen Marmesh of AARP-Tax Aide

For the second year in a row the Community Housing Resource Center has partnered with AARP-Tax Aide and the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette to increase awareness of the tax credit and the free preparation services that AARP-Tax Aide provides.  This year, Center staff distributed 10,000 flyers to schools, churches, non-profits and unemployment offices and coordinated press releases to a wide range of local media outlets.   

Our Center is also one of nine locations across Clark County offering the free preparation assistance.  Three days a week, AARP-Tax Aide converts our classroom into a bustling tax hub for four hours. As the Electronic Return Originator for the CHRC site, AARP’s David Walseth sees every return prepared here before they are submitted to the IRS.  According to him, the CHRC site has “the highest number of child tax credit and the highest number of earned income credit” in the county.   

David also worked at the CHRC site last year. This year he’s observed “a tremendous increase in the number of people who do their taxes here who have some unemployment [income.]” This is due in part to our outreach, but it is also driven by last year’s sluggish economy.  And although the state of Washington has begun to create jobs again, Clark County continues to lose them.  For many who live here, the EITC refund will be an important bridge to a still distant recovery.   

To see a complete list of locations offering free, drop-in tax preparation assistance, click here.  To schedule an appointment for tax assistance at the Center, call us at 360-690-4496 x 102. 

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Teri Owen: On the Road to Financial Independence

Teri Owen stands next to her new car.

The next time Teri goes camping, she’s not going to have to stay close enough to home to make two trips.  Everything she needs fits in her new car.  However, it’s her new financial freedom that’s taking her further than she’s been before.

It wasn’t that long ago that Teri was homeless and staying the night in shelters.  Hoping to get noticed by someone who might be willing to house her, she attended a tenant education class presented by Second Step Housing.  The guest speaker that day was Community Housing Resource Center’s Kevin Gillette. 

“I made a note to myself that someday I would sit down with Kevin when I was in a position where I could actually have a reasonable conversation about trying to get out from under all of my debt,” she remembers.

Eventually, Teri worked herself into a position to address her finances, and she came to the Center.  She took our financial education class, CreditSmart, not once but twice.  She also signed up for one-on-one counseling with Kevin to learn to address her debt.  “[Kevin] created an opportunity where I could watch and listen to him acting on my behalf.  And so it wasn’t difficult then for me to take that next step and try one on my own.”

Little by little, Teri started taking control of her finances.  With each call her confidence and her credit score rose a little higher.  Over time she was able to leave behind what she calls “a poverty mentality” and embrace an empowering new attitude.  

With her new approach have come new results.  “I don’t have any old stuff hanging over me anymore.  I don’t make late payments.  I have a credit score now that’s worthy of protecting,” she beams, “I’ve never been that person before.”  Her new car is just the beginning.

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