Building Healthy Credit

Chelsey Walker was just 3 years old when she first proclaimed, “I want to be a doctor.”

Now 26 and a student at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, the soon-to-be “Dr.” Chelsey Walker hopes to someday open her own practice treating low-income families in her hometown of New Orleans.
 
An outstanding student and hard worker who assisted in conducting neuroscientific research at LSU while still in high school and whose work was published in medical journals while she was still a college undergraduate, Walker had never set a goal she couldn’t reach – until she tried to get an auto loan.
 
“I had plenty of long-term student loan debt thanks to medical school, but I had no credit history,” Walker says. “I realized what a barrier that was when I wanted to buy a car in my own name and I couldn’t get a loan. The people at the dealership didn’t even turn on their computers. They simply said, ‘no.’”
 
When Walker reluctantly asked her father for help, he signed for her car loan,  and also offered her some sound advice: turn to Hope Credit Union for help establishing her own credit history.

HOPE helped Walker with a cash-secured loan, which essentially allowed her to build a credit history by borrowing and repaying her own money. Within a year, she had paid the loan back, opened a savings account with HOPE, and secured a credit card in her name. Walker can now focus on her medical studies and her career plans without worrying that a lack of credit will hold her back.

“It’s a relief to know that my credit score isn’t getting killed while I’m finishing my medical education and that my lack of credit won’t be a barrier to achieving the goals I’ve set for myself or my plans to give back to my community,” says Walker.