Financial Literacy and Affordable Housing Support

 
Housing Counseling- This one on one session prepares the homebuyer in a face to face interview, enabling them to make an informed and reasonable decision to achieve their housing goal. After the screening interview the counselor prepares a counseling plan. The plan explains what the agency will do and what the client will do in order to meet his or her housing goal. Counselees obtain a certification enabling them to utilize federal, state, local and other specialized housing assistance. The certification is good for one year from the date of issuance.

 
Get Checking- Get Checking is an educational program designed to assist the unbanked in getting streamlined back into the banking system regardless of their banking history. It also works to assist individuals who are at risk of their accounts being closed. It is a six hour curriculum focusing on account management issues and good debt practices. Get Checking is a key educational component as homeownership and low interest rates are generally predicated upon a good banking relationship. Totally Free, Inc. was invited by the Community Development Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to launch this new program in our region. We are licensed under the Dekalb County Cooperative Extension Services of Atlanta to operate the program. Totally Free, Inc. exclusively operates this program in Southeast Georgia and its rural regions.

 
Homebuyer Workshops- These workshops are geared toward first time homebuyers. They are a comprehensive six hour training detailing steps to take to move from the position of renting to owning your own home. Attendees receive a certification as referenced in Housing Counseling.

 
Loss Mitigation- We are increasingly involved in this particular field. This has come to be one of our main focuses. In this program clients are educated as to the mitigation process and counseled on preventing the loss of their home.

 
FDIC Money Smart- FDIC Moneysmart works to focus on basic areas of financial management, enabling our constituents to make wiser decisions in their spending, lending, saving, banking and investing patterns. Moneysmart modules are utilized to train prospective home owners in numerous outreaches such as the IDA Program, Brunswick Housing Authority Section 8 Homeownership Program, Brunswick Job Corp (Renting vs. Buying seminars), Headstart Concerted Services parent education (in 12 counties) and more.

 
IDA Program- This program works to break the cycle of poverty through asset accumulation and home investment strategies. We implement Housing Counseling, Homebuyer Workshops, FDIC Moneysmart financial literacy, Get Checking and Debt Management combined to empower selected candidates to become mortgage-ready within twelve to twenty four months. The IDA Program in the city of Brunswick is governed by a network of community agencies- The Southeast Georgia Community Development Partnership (SEGCDP). In December 2004 Totally Free, Inc. was officially selected by the partnership to execute the program as Coordinator and educate its participants as Financial Educator.

 
Credit Counseling- This section of our program is dedicated to educating our clients about the many aspects of credit and how maintaining a good credit portfolio can be of benefit to you. It is a course that provides our clients with a bounty of information so that they can make positive decisions in the aspect of credit.