Housing Action Illinois Awards Justine PETERSEN $36k in Housing Counseling Funds
Housing Action Illinois awarded Justine PETERSEN $36,000 in housing counseling funds to assist prospective homebuyers with first time home purchases. HUD awarded over $1.2 million to Housing Action Illinois, which in turn, distributed the funds to 33 non-profit counseling agencies throughout the state of Illinois. Housing counseling agencies provide community residents with guidance on budgeting, renting and purchasing a home. Housing counselors help families access mortgages and manage mortgage delinquency, avoid discriminatory or predatory lending practices and prevent foreclosure and homelessness. As Robert Boyle, Founder and CEO of Justine PETERSEN noted, “With the availability of these funds, Justine PETERSEN is able to impact the lives of over 200 households on an annual basis.”
Justine PETERSEN Recognizes National Small Business Women’s Month
October is National Small Business Women’s Month, and the UP date is featuring a JP small business client each week. This week we feature the dynamic Brittany Raji! She launched Beauty Impact Accessories in 2015 with sourced merchandise from Ghana. Over time, she began designing accessories with women-owned manufacturers in Nigeria and Kenya, in addition to Ghana.
Brittany came to Justine PETERSEN for a microloan to purchase inventory for her showroom and pay off debt to improve her overall credit. She noted, “The JP loan helped me be able to serve more customers, especially when my inventory was very limited. My small business loan also improved my credit score over the last three years!”Check out Brittany’s inventory on her Facebook page or www.shopbeautyimpact.com.
Justine PETERSEN Surveys Temple Church of Christ Congregation on Need for Financial Tools
Recently, Justine PETERSEN staffers spent a Sunday morning with the congregation of Temple Church of Christ located in North St. Louis City. JP conducted a survey among congregants that inquired about the prominence of payday loans, the need for small business loans and the interest in credit building for individuals. Temple Church of Christ as a congregation is committed to its congregants engaging in safe and sound financial products and services. Asset-building for the congregation as a whole was identified as a fundamental interest and need. JP looks forward to advancing our partnership with Temple Church of Christ.
No Horsin’ Around
This is a horse tale (tail) about JP staffer Megan and her Quarter Horse named Grayson. By day, Megan is a superhero in our finance department, by weekend she competes in horse shows across the region. Grayson recently completed his last show of the year in early October, where he received Reserve Grand Champion for the year in two of his competing classes. He will be in training all winter, so as Megan stated, “We can start next year off with a bang and be ready to run.”