Inclusiv member Commodore Perry Federal Credit Union is a small credit union in rural Ohio composed of 3 branches served by 28 staff, all of whom are certified financial counselors including one full time coach/counselor who has worked at Commodore Perry for over 27 years.
Three years ago, Commodore Perry started the B.O.S.S. (Building Opportunities for Smart Savings) program in response to the recognition that many of their low/moderate-income (LMI) credit union members were falling through the financial education cracks. The BOSS program provides financial counseling to support individuals to build credit and reach their financial goals by converting financial literacy concepts into action steps for the member and pairing members with the appropriate products and services that suit their needs (credit builder loans, secured credit cards, the Pathways Mortgage program).
Shortly after starting the BOSS program, Commodore Perry adopted the Pathways to Financial Empowerment solution to track the impact of their financial counseling over time.
“We chose Pathways right when we were starting the BOSS program because with this platform, we were able to track and monitor results along the way. It has everything we wanted to do. We’ve seen participants’ credit scores increase and debt decrease, but also have been able to use these tools to develop specific products that meet the needs of our members, such as the Pathways Mortgage program to increase access to affordable homeownership in our community,” the team at Commodore Perry reported.
The Pathways Mortgage is a new product Commodore Perry launched to support homeownership in a high cost-of-living area for LMI residents that has no credit score requirement and only $500 down.
Recently, the BOSS program celebrated their first official graduate who started as a “true zero” credit score and within 18 months has earned an A+ credit score and a qualified for a mortgage for their first home.
Having community partners to support with outreach and referrals has been critical to the success of the BOSS program and its community participants. Sometimes a credit union member might benefit from tools and resources outside of the scope of a particular financial product or service, and having those trusted referral relationships only increases that member’s chances of long-term success.
According to Megan Bolado, Inclusiv Director of Financial Empowerment, “Financial education and literacy has always been a critical part of Commodore Perry’s mission, but through the BOSS program they’ve been able to create that relationship of trust where their members can get all the tools and resources needed to achieve their financial goals and thrive.”