August 28, 2024 – Busey Bank is offering a credit building workshop on Thursday, September 5th, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. as part of the Decatur Homebuyer Initiative.
The class is free and being held at City of Praise Church, located at 1415 N Edward Street. The Decatur Homebuyer Initiative is a collaboration aimed at preparing and supporting residents to become homeowners.
Pastor Todd McClelland said, “our church is thrilled to host this credit building workshop with Busey Bank and we’re excited to see more of this financial literacy and home rehabilitation work in Decatur.”
These financial literacy efforts accompany the Central Illinois Land Bank Authority’s (CILBA) Abandonment to Rehab initiative. The land bank’s third rehab is being completed this week. Mike Davis, Director of CILBA, said “the City and land bank are striving to provide more homeownership opportunities for Decatur residents. If there are Decatur residents that have never owned a home and might have credit challenges, the goal is to provide the tools necessary for interested residents to become first time homebuyers.”
The Community Investment Corporation of Decatur (CICD) is handling registration for these 1-hour credit building workshops. CICD is also providing further education with homeownership classes, which allow people to qualify for City, State, and Federal down payment assistance programs. Anyone interested can register for classes and find other resources on CICD’s website – www.investindecaturcicd.org/events.
“At Busey Bank, we believe in homeownership for all. In that spirit, we are honored to partner with the City of Decatur and the Central Illinois Landbank Authority to offer our Credit Scores and Reports workshop, which focuses on various aspects of maintaining healthy credit, to the community,” said Michelle Stallmeyer, Assistant Vice President – Community Banking Mortgage Officer at Busey. “In addition, we’re proud to offer resources like tailored first-time homebuyer loans, downpayment assistance programs and more to help residents take the first crucial steps to financial empowerment and homeownership.”
City of Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said “it’s really exciting to see a local pastor, Busey Bank, CICD, and the Central IL Land Bank Authority all partnering to provide residents with financial literacy resources and a real path towards homeownership. I’m happy to see the Decatur Homebuyer Initiative get off the ground and achieve results.”
