Calvine and her coach, Alisha, met in March 2020. The pandemic had just started, and neither knew what to expect. Her credit was in bad shape, being in the low 400s. She had no savings and had never really budgeted before. One of her goals was simply to pay her bills on time.  

To get started, Calvine needed to understand where her money was going and how to use it best. So they began creating a budget for her, and even though things were tight, she was able to start saving. She was working hard to follow the budget and was able to make her payments on time. In the first three months, she opened a savings account with $300, and all her bills were current! She was ecstatic. They worked together, building her savings to over $1400 and her credit right at 600.

Thanks to Alisha and Calvine’s determination, Calvine reached her first financial empowerment goal! But that’s not where she wanted things to end. She had even bigger dreams to pursue. Calvine also had a small business that she wanted to grow and scale. When Alisha and Calvine finished their sessions, Alisha referred and transferred her to an Operation HOPE Small Business Coach to help her nurture and grow her business and continue her credit journey.  

“When I started with Operation HOPE, I had the worst credit in the world. When I set up my first appointment with Alisha, she was easy to talk to, and I felt very comfortable talking with her. Her knowledge, expertise, and encouragement in improving your credit made me want to improve my own. I graduated from the class and now have GOOD Credit, not POOR Credit. I continue to follow all the procedures we had in place, and currently, I‘m working on EXCELLENT Credit. Thank you, Alisha and Operation HOPE.”
– Calvine

Thank you, Alisha and HOPE Inside First Horizon Salisbury, for helping to empower another individual with financial literacy.