LA CROSSE, Wis. – A couple and their three daughters here have become the first family to graduate from Marine Credit Union’s Finding HOME program and purchase their home.
The Marine Credit Union Foundation launched its Finding HOME program in May of 2018. The program is a financial literacy program for credit-challenged borrowers that grants home loans to participants upon successful completion of program. The program is free to participants.
According to Marine Credit Union, Finding HOME helps these individuals improve their current financial situation, achieve homeownership and develop critical skills and knowledge to maintain financial stability.
Marine Credit Union said Majel Hein, a financial literacy counselor in its La Crosse, Wis., office, has counseled 65 families in the area to identify their best path to homeownership. Twenty-two of those families have entered the Finding HOME program, with Katye and Josh Sargent the first to graduate and purchase a home. Hein has assisted 14 additional families in finding appropriate mortgage lending products or programs, the credit union reported.
In June, Marine Credit Union’s Finding HOME program received a $5,000 grant from the Robert & Eleanor Franke Charitable Fund at the La Crosse Community Foundation. Bob and Eleanor Franke established this fund to benefit programs that improve the health and well-being of people in need. Some of the areas Bob and Eleanor were particularly passionate about was strengthening Northside La Crosse neighborhoods and affordable housing.