I had been renting for over 20 years, and my last residence was such an awful experience.  A single mother with 1 child and newborn, we had mold everywhere in our unit along with non-potable water, a very unhealthy living situation.  Stressed and overwhelmed, I felt my rights had been violated and wanted out of this situation.

In October 2021, my case manager referred me to Soldier On’s Free Financial Counseling Team. I had the determination to get a home of my own, I just didn’t know the proper steps, credit was not my expertise. I began working with my financial coach, Mark McBride who immediately provided me the assurance and direction to start working on my home journey.  It is rare to build a relationship and trust professionals like Mark when discussing your personal situation on how you budget and how to rebuild your credit score but in order to get to the next step it was necessary.

Within 3 months working with Mark and following his expert insight and guidance, my credit score increased.  I was now eligible to pursue a VA Home loan, and was pre-approved, found an affordable home in Fulton, NY and became a first time Veteran homeowner in January 2022. 

I still utilize the financial counseling team to this day; we all deal with finances before and after homeownership, speaking with Mark every few months.  I still maintain a credit score of over 700 and within the last 3 years, although it was hard work, I’ve made dozens of improvements to my first home with my new line of credit.  Today my home equity has increased to over 40k, my next goal is to purchase another home in a better school district for my children, creating a game plan with Mark.  I never imagined I would be in this position again to dream bigger and create more opportunities for my family.