A new series highlighting real member success stories with Choice Map.
Resolving to get financially healthy
“New year, new you” – that phrase is meant to inspire, but it’s often quite daunting. It doesn’t have to be if you follow it up with a plan.
This gem of a story starts with Community Choice Personal Advisor, Diamond. Diamond supports members in the Livonia Member Center, and she is also a Credit Union Certified Financial Counselor. She is always listening for an opportunity to help. In January, a member shared that life had thrown her for a curve – her car had been stolen, yet she was still on the hook for payments to a dealership. With her income stretched thin, late payments were taking a toll on her credit score. Heading into the new year with this weight on her shoulders, she wasn’t buying the “new you” hype.
Diamond is known to be filled with compassion – and the knowledge that our member needed a plan and an advocate. The plan started with Simplifying – getting organized to meet due dates and automating payments first to avoid any more late payment fees. Then came optimizing her Borrowing – and those on time payments had a near immediate impact! Within just 3 months our member’s credit score rose 36 points. And, with her newfound confidence, she successfully worked with the dealership to settle and nearly eliminated her balance.
With Choice Map, a happy ending is really just a new beginning, and for this member, 2024 became the year that she got that mythical fresh start.
Creating the life you desire – for your children
This story illustrates how one seemingly small act can lead to big changes. It starts with a new member who thought she was simply joining the new credit union in her community. She was greeted at the doors of our new Farmington Hills – 12 Mile Member Center with both a free cup of joe, and an advisor named Joe, who energetically got her membership established.
At Community Choice, new membership is easy to qualify for, so we spend most of this important time getting to know our member. Joe asked open-ended questions about life and goals – not just about money – and learned this hard-working mom had big plans. She was saving for her daughter’s education in the long-term – and really wanted to make family vacations an accessible experience while her daughter was still young. These plans are a big deal, because they are part of our members’ vision to give her daughter a better life. And Joe knows, that means it’s time for a Choice Map, so he called in a Credit Union Certified Financial Counselor, Igor, to chart the path.
This member’s Choice Map will help her strike that balance between living the life she desires today while still planning for the future. Igor educated this hopeful mom on helpful budgeting tools available for free at the credit union and showed her how paying herself first would help her prioritize her big dreams over the little shopping trips. Our newest member-owner left the office with more than a membership card – and we can’t wait to see what her future holds.