HUD Opens the Doors of the American Dream

Jorge Rodriguez and Evelyn Colon with HUD's Des Moines Field Office Director, Bill McNarney (on left).

On Tuesday afternoon, October 15th, new homeowners Jorge Rodriguez and his wife, Evelyn Colon, opened the doors of their new home to Des Moines, Iowa HUD Field Office representatives Bill McNarney and Krista Bowersox, and local media representatives. Jorge and Evelyn are originally from Puerto Rico and were educated in Universities in both Puerto Rico and America. They lived and worked in Iowa several years when employment took them back to Puerto Rico. After two years they realized they wanted to come back to the Midwest, and Iowa in particular, because there were more employment opportunities, and they wanted to raise their son in a smaller, more secure community.

The Rodriguez family opened their home because they felt it was important to tell their story of how their family finally succeeded, after five years of renting, in obtaining financing. They applied for a mortgage with several lenders but were always rejected for various reasons. There was misunderstanding between legal documents filed in Puerto Rico in Spanish, income not accepted and more than likely, language barriers and miscommunication. At long last, they reached their dream. Finally, a culturally diversified mortgage company understood and accepted their documents and approved their loan request. They received an FHA-insured mortgage for First Time Homebuyers

Their 'American Dream' is now complete. In fact, Jorge was so impressed with the speed that their mortgage company accepted and approved their loan and the ease with which their culturally diversified background and documents were accepted, that Jorge asked about job openings. He wanted to be on their team. He is now a Home Mortgage Consultant in the Emerging Markets Department with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the same employer his wife works for in the banking department. Jorge achieves for others, what took him several years to fulfill.

Jorge now goes out to Iowa's communities, reaching out to potential homebuyers and providing mortgage for First-Time home buyers as well as helping minority families deal with the many obstacles they face as they pursue the "American Dream".

Jorge has not only achieved the "American Dream" for his family, but is making it a reality for many families across Iowa.