Testimonials

Allen B.

Allen B lives in the last house on a remote dead-end road in southern Indiana. He grew up in this home. In 2001, his mother had already passed away and his father moved into a retirement community. Allen bought the home from his father and moved in with his two high-school aged boys.

“It’s the bedrock,” Allen said of his home. “My brother and sister feel at home here. My brother’s daughters feel comfortable here after spending so much time hear with their grandparents.”

Allen never thought he’d be in a situation where he would almost lose his home. He’d been employed for decades in a sales and marketing career that had provided a healthy income. It was while working for a company in the farming industry when things moved in the wrong direction. Farming as an industry was struggling and the company started to shrink – Allen was eventually let go.

Forced to move on in a challenging job market in a region with limited economic opportunity, Allen worked in a couple of different sales jobs, but none of them proved to be sustainable for his financial obligations. He decided to start his own business as a freelance writer and took on assignments, but struggled to make it the success he needed. He ran through his savings to make ends meet.

“Once I exhausted my savings, I hit rock bottom. I wound up in a very difficult situation,” recalled Allen. He ended up nearly nine months behind on his mortgage payments. “I needed help and didn’t want to lose the family home that we grew up in.”

He had never imagined himself dealing with these circumstances and started researching for online for how to apply for welfare. All he was able to get was food stamps and a stipend for monthly cleaning supplies. A woman at the welfare office suggested he contact HOPE of Evansville where he met with Kathy Duncan.

Kathy made him aware of Indiana’s Hardest Hit Fund and he began working with her to get his application in order. Meanwhile his bank issued him forbearance, which helped, but he was still very behind and he watched his debt interest.

At first he was notified that he wasn’t eligible for assistance the Hardest Hit Fund despite only having a night-shift job. However, a network of very helpful Hoosiers helped him straighten out his application and he was later granted reinstatement assistance on his mortgage.

“Without this program, I don’t know where I would be,” Allen said. These days,
Allen makes ends meet with a portfolio of jobs including some part-time retail sales work, a weekly radio show, broadcasting local high school sports, and some freelance writing.

Looking back, Allen describes his experience as a time of desperation and hopelessness. He didn’t know where to turn. When he was notified that he had been approved for the Hardest Hit Fund, he felt tremendous relief.

“This is pretty much a godsend of a program. Thank God it's there because there are people who are making the best efforts they can. There are circumstances that can hit people. They can wind up, through no fault of their own, in being in dire straits.

You can wind up losing your home. I basically would have ended up homeless.”

Allen knows he was in danger of losing his home and finding himself homeless. He also knows there are other who need this program to get back on track and he warns that it isn’t easy. There is work to do. However, he offers encouragement, “God helps those who help themselves. That’s basically what this program is predicated upon.”