Success Story


<< Return to Success Stories


A Heart in the Right Place
Making History

At age 35, single mom with two teenage daughters, Lorna Barker knew she was in the right place when she attended Homebuyers Education classes at NHS Phoenix in February 2001.

A State Farm Insurance Company co-worker suggested NHS Phoenix after hearing that Lorna wanted to rent a house. Barker discovered that NHS Phoenix was not in the rental house business but in the affordable home buying business. She didn't think she qualified because of her credit history and because of her "knowledge." "I didn't grow up learning the right way–the proper way–to handle finances." And as a parent, "needed to get on track." She enrolled in HomeBuyer Education classes and "the rest is history," she laughs. Six months later she became a first-time homeowner.

In her final class session, Bill Slater, HomeOwnership Center Manager for NHS Phoenix, introduced a City of Tempe representative who happened to be sitting in. And that got Lorna's attention. Her dream was to purchase a home in Tempe. She approached the representative who explained the Tempe CAMP (Community Assistance Mortgage Program) that provides down payment grants for first-time homebuyers. Her heart pounding, Barker knew that homeownership was now attainable. She had two new partners eager to assist. She still had work ahead but knew what steps to take.

Lorna took that next step toward homeownership in July 2001 when Slater recommended she enroll in Financial Fitness classes at NHS Phoenix. She attended with her two daughters "to help them avoid the same mistakes I had made." Barker's youngest daughter, who is now a mother herself, is working on saving for her own home by being more conscious of budgeting and tracking expenses.

After moving into her Tempe home, Barker didn't rest. She needed to eliminate her debt and NHS Phoenix's counselor was her next partner. Together they devised a plan to reduce her debt, one account at a time. To date, she has paid off three accounts. Lorna feels that the "keys" are "taking responsibility for your own actions and putting a stop to procrastination!" She learned that responsibility extends to sustaining homeownership as well. "To get things fixed in my home I have to do it. There is no landlord to call," she emphasizes. "Just knowing I am a homeowner has helped me to be a more stable person." Her goals are to save money, do some investing, see her own business develop, and leave an inheritance to her family.

Last year she was able to take advantage of lower mortgage rates and because of her improved credit rating and "knowledge," effectively refinanced on her own. "I know," she smiles, "that if I work hard and pay bills on time, other doors will open for me." But her history does not end here.

Barker took partnering to heart. "At NHS Phoenix, everyone's heart is into serving so it occurred to me that perhaps co-workers and church members could benefit from how my life had changed." At last count, she is responsible for steering 25 of them on the road to homeownership.

At work, she co-presented a proposal to "get the community more involved." Through her efforts, three Financial Fitness classes were State Farm-sponsored at the Guadalupe Boys & Girls Club. She recruits agents to be volunteer facilitators, coordinates donations of money and supplies, distributes flyers, and networks with everyone she meets. With Slater's guidance, she is to begin instructor training through the acclaimed Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NRC) Training Institute and may one day be seen at the front of the classroom.

"I just don't want to die with all that potential still left in me. And maybe I can even help to change a life or two," she reflects. Lorna is not done writing her own history but the NHS Phoenix historians will unanimously say that Lorna Barker is about giving back and not giving up–her heart is in the right place!

Written by R.A.Lenio; photos by M. Rooney