Joy's Story

CHC Success Story:
Finding a place to turn and reason for hope.

Recipient: Joy
Hardship: Divorce, Covid-19 challenges  
CHC assistance: $8,000

  • Joy's story starts in 2004, when a divorce left her caring for two kids, covering a mortgage, and all the bills that came with it on her own. Joy had to stay diligent and work hard to keep up. She was just making ends meet and had one child off at college and one in high school when Covid-19 hit in the spring of 2020.

  • The pandemic added a range of new challenges. With schools closed, both kids were back under her roof, and remote learning came with added expenses – internet, computers for online lessons, more mouths to feed, and added utilities. The added financial strain caused Joy to fall behind on her payments.

"…more mouths to feed, higher gas prices, and the cost of everything skyrocketing;” Joy shared in an interview with CHC, "the next thing I knew, I was facing foreclosure."

  • Joy tried to get back on track - paying a little extra to try and catch up where she'd fallen behind. She researched other options only to learn that she didn't qualify.
    "I tried other programs but learned that I make too much money to qualify for "this," and not enough to qualify for "that," Joy explained.

  • Just when nothing seemed to go right, Joy learned about the CHC's grant program from a housing counselor who thought she might be a good candidate. Joy applied, was approved, and quickly received funds.

"A complete weight had been lifted from my shoulders; Joy shared, "the [CHC] program was about me and my situation, not about how much money I did or did not have."

  • Joy was impressed by how quickly she received the funds after being approved and noted that "they [the CHC] were very good about making sure that it (the funds) got to my mortgage company to stop the foreclosure."

Joy's story highlights an essential aspect of the CHC program —it's not a low-income-only program but a situational program that can help a much more comprehensive range of homeowners. After not qualifying for many assistance programs, Colorado Homeownership Coalition was a place to turn and a reason for hope.

Joy's resilience, paired with the CHC grant funds, prevented foreclosure and enabled Joy to get back on track and save her home.

The Colorado Homeownership Coalition is a 501(c)(3) organization and your contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under law. IRS regulations require us to state that we did not provide any goods or services to you in consideration of your contribution. A copy of our latest financial report may be obtained by writing to: Colorado Homeownership Coalition, 8200 S Quebec Street, Suite A3, #743 ∙ Centennial, Colorado 80112.