The Unity Council Homeownership Center

Sandra Gates Anderson is quite possibly an angel on earth. I’m not even sure I will be able to artiulate the gratitude that my family and I have for this woman. When purchasing my house, I attended 24 hours of first-​time home buyer courses. The course I took in Fairfield that was hosted by Sandra was far and away, the most informative class (of the 3 classes) I took. She warned me about the junk mail and scams that would end up in mailbox when nobody else did. When it came time to apply for first-​time downpayment assistant program the Unity Council manages, I was so overwhelmed, I almost gave up. Sandra called me and told me I was leaving money on the table.
Long story short, I am the proud owner of a beautiful house out in Concord.
THANK YOU, Sandra!

The Unity Council Homeownership Center is like a hidden gem in the Fruitvale Village plaza. This center is dedicated to supporting community members in improve their financial status, and maintaining homeownership.
I took both the homebuyer education class, and the financial fitness class with the HOC, and I was very please. The classes are low cost, and you really get A LOT of information.
The homebuyer education workshop are presented every third Saturday of the month. This is an all day class, loaded with information. It was actually a lot for me to absorb in one day, but they send you home with plenty of reading material for you to review in your own time at your own pace. Also, the counselors are very knowledgeable, and generously share real world experiences to help you. I really don’t like when you attend these type of homeownership assistance seminars and they just give you info from the book that is totally not easy for the average person to understand. Here they give you all of that information plus translate it into everyday language (sometimes English and Spanish) to make sure you truly understand. The center’s director Sherri Powers is passionately against predatory lending practices, and does her best to make sure you understand exactly what that means and how to avoid it. Plus they offer follow up counseling to help you through the process of preparing to purchase a home, or working through foreclosure.
The Financial Fitness workshop is excellent! This is a good workshop for anyone looking to purchase a home, or just to deepen your knowledge and understanding of financial matters. The goals of the course are to help you become a better saver, improve your credit score, and financial goal setting. I really learned a lot of useful information during this six week course. We were able to hear from professional guest speakers who explained in detail about topics like taxes, insurance, and credit scores. They provided real world solutions that can be easily applied. The Unity Council also provide follow up coaching services to assist you in reaching your goals.
I totally recommend this organization to anyone looking to learn how to improve their finances in this ever evolving economy.