Julia Garcia was at a point in her life without a lot of choices. Single in the city of New York, laid off from her job with no other prospects or family nearby, she decided to move to Colorado to be near her sister. After moving to Denver Julia knew she wanted to own a home but didn’t know the process and needed some guidance. So while searching for a job she began researching the available community resources for first time home buying. That’s when she found NEWSED and began her housing counseling process with Mercedes Fuentes. Mercedes was able to assess Julia’s likelihood of qualifying for an Individual Development Account (IDA). Through approval from Mile High United Way Julia quadrupled her savings power in a relatively short amount of time with the IDA product. Julia’s FICO score and credit history required some repair which Mercedes was also able to assist with. It took Julia a total of a year and five months to become qualified for home loan but along the way she gained a valuable financial education. Now she’s sitting pretty in her new 2 bed, 2 bath bachelorette pad in Denver’s South Park Hill neighborhood.