By Christina Fernández-Morrow, Hola Iowa Owning a home is one of the fastest ways to build wealth, but for many Spanish speakers, becoming a homeowner feels out of reach. Melissa Figueroa Rivera wants to change that. Figueroa Rivera is a loan officer at Green State Credit Union in Des Moines. She began her career in mortgage services three years ago as a translator at another credit union. Translating the mortgage loan process for Spanish speakers made her curious about the process. After some time, the people for whom she translated wanted to work with her directly, not just to translate. She started asking the loan officers questions about what they did and realized it was a role she would enjoy and be able to make a difference for people like her. “Many of us grew up without anyone we knew being homeowners,” she recalls.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful story!