In the middle of March before the quarantine was put into place, Housing Assistance started taking the necessary steps to ensure staff could successfully continue working remotely.
That led to several departments shifting how they delivered services. For Director of Education & Engagement Cheryl Codair it meant offering our First-Time Homebuyers workshop and Money Matters class virtually.
The biggest concern? Whether people would even want to attend given the current climate.
They did with a total of 66 households receiving certificates for taking our First-Time Homebuyers workshops in March and April. Another 47 took the class in May. And in April, 10 people took our two-day virtual Money Matters class which identifies strategies to set financial goals, ways to create an emergency fund, and best behaviors to meet short- and long-term credit goals.
“I was surprised at the interest,” Codair said. “I didn’t expect people to still have the desire to get certified for our First-Time Homebuyers workshop. I can understand why people would want to come to the Money Matters class.”
With the First-Time Homebuyers workshop, Codair created a webinar that featured Cape Cod Five Mortgage Officer Diane Pansire; Realtor Lisa Parenteau of Lisa Sells Cape Cod; home inspector Jennifer Gould of Cape Quality Home Inspections; and attorney Morgan Grozier of Cape Cod Title & Escrow in March. In April, she was assisted by Radius Financial Group Loan Officer Amy Downey; attorney Matthew Fitzsimmons of the Law Office of Matthew P. Fitzsimmons, P.C.; Realtor Mélanie Cauchon of My Cape Cod Realty; Jennifer Gould; and RogersGray Vice President Ryan O’Connell.
“It is a little less interactive for me because I don’t get to see them,” Codair said of the homebuyers webinar.
The Money Matters class was the opposite, taking place on Zoom with Codair able to engage directly with participants.
What recent months have taught Codair is that despite the pandemic, “there has not been a drop off. I’m busier than ever… There is still this hum of people who want to be educated, who want to move forward, and want to be able to become homeowners.”
