Sharonal Jarrell, Self-Help Mortgage Loan Officer in Wilson, NC, leads a session on homebuyer education.

In Wilson NC, Self-Help Credit Union held its first “Community Mortgage Initiative” on July 16 at the Wilson County Public Library. The purpose of the event was to describe the benefits of homeownership and help interested people find out more about the process of buying a home.

In the Wilson community there are many people who dream of homeownership.  According to a Washington Post article, “The rate of homeownership, one of the most important ways for working-and-middle-class families to build wealth, has remained virtually unchanged for African Americans in the past 50 years.” 

The “Community Mortgage Initiative” was born out of this need.  As a Self-Help intern, I worked with two members, Cordie Baker and Lillie Settles, to seek out people who might be interested in learning more about homeownership.  Adrian Dixon, Branch Manager, presented an introduction to Self-Help. This was followed by a personal testimony from a member’s son, Everett Speight, who passionately described his experience with Self-Help's First-Time Home Buyer program. He expressed how Self-Help made his mother’s dreams of homeownership come true. 

Sharonal Jarrell, Mortgage Loan Officer, guided everyone through the home-buying process, step-by-step.  Shondra Tanner, Director of Mortgage Originations, also attended and helped answer questions. The mortgage event as one of the guest put it “Is what this community needs!”

Find out more about home loans at Self-Help Credit Union. In some cases, we can even help home buyers get funds to help with down payments.