With the objective of supporting the local community and helping Orange County residents overcome financial issues, we have partnered with the Orange County Rescue Mission (OCRM) to spread financial literacy by providing residents with the insight and resources to guide them on a journey to independence.
As part of this program, Experian is offering at no charge its Experian Credit EducatorSM product, a tool designed to provide consumers with one-on-one telephone-based education sessions and guide them through important information related to their credit lives. This innovative tool helps prepare consumers for career exploration, future employment opportunities, home rentals and other important financial decisions.
We were eager to strengthen our partnership with OCRM because our company strongly supports its goal of providing the homeless with the skills and resources to become self-sufficient.
Within 30–60 days of entering OCRM, residents will work with an Experian volunteer to schedule their session. An agent will provide individuals with a copy of their credit report and help them review, understand and improve their credit score. This session enables the resident to identify any potential issues with their credit report or score, while learning the fundamentals of credit reporting from a reputable resource.
The phone-based sessions usually take 35 minutes. A significant number of OCRM members have been empowered with in-depth information to take important steps toward improving their financial literacy. The initiative is part of Experian’s broader mission to promote data for good by leveraging insights from the use of Big Data into actionable solutions that benefit consumers, businesses and government organizations.
Experian already has provided more than 25 sessions to the OCRM’s members and is on schedule to deliver 15–20 a month as new OCRM members become integrated into the independent-living and job-training programs.
OC Register Coverage:
New O.C. program helps homeless people fix their credit
By Theresa Walker
Back when she was living on the streets and panhandling to buy food and drugs, a good credit score was the last thing Jody Puckett figured she needed.
“Credit wasn’t even something on my mind because we were living day to day,” Puckett said of the way she and her husband had existed for six years, mostly living in his truck.
“We were thinking about how we were going to get a roof over our heads. And food. And dope.”
It took nearly two years with Orange County Rescue Mission’s live-in Village of Hope rehabilitation program for Puckett, 46, and her husband, Devin, 47, to shed that sketchy old life and start anew.
Now, good credit does matter to the Pucketts. They are clean and sober, working and hope to buy a home someday for themselves and their 7-year-old daughter.
Read full article here.