Mount Vernon Launches Credit-Score Improvement Campaign

(March 26, 2019) The Mayor’s Healthy Homes Initiative launched a campaign today to raise residents’ credit scores so they can have better access to loans and capital.

Dr. Michael C. Grayson of the Credit and Debt Management Institute visited the One-Stop Career Center at 130 Mount Vernon Ave. to discuss his strategies for raising his clients’ credit scores and eliminating bad debt.

“This is our pilot program we’re starting in Mount Vernon,” Grayson told workshop attendees. “We’re going to raise the aggregate credit scores of the entire population. It’s a radical concept.”

Over the course of future workshops throughout the city, the credit workshops will target city officials, clergy and other community leaders. The goal is that once the city’s influencers learn how to raise their credit scores, they will be able to share their knowledge throughout Mount Vernon and raise residents’ scores.

Grayson warned that many credit repair or credit counselling services are consumer scams. Grayson’s workshops are designed to help attendees decide which credit advisors are legitimate.

“There’s a lot of folks out there who are purporting to help you in the credit process,” said Grayson. “I want you after this day forward, if you talk to anybody about credit, I want you to be able to discern if they’re going to be able to help you.”

The Mayor’s Healthy Homes Initiative is a City-wide campaign to engage residents on health, wellness, and the pursuit of happiness across all categories including (but not limited to) agricultural, educational, environmental, energy, financial, social, physical, and spiritual.

Credit and debt are significant issues in Mount Vernon because almost 15 percent of the City’s population lives in poverty, according to the U.S. Census.

Additionally, households in Mount Vernon have a median household income of $54,573, which is far lower than Westchester County’s median household income of $89,968, according to the U.S. Census. The median is the point at which half of households earn more and half earn less.

Grayson advised attendees seeking credit repair help to ensure that their consultant is knowledgeable in debt filtration, restoring credit, how to increase a credit score quickly and how to remove negative information from credit scores.

The Mayor’s Healthy Homes Initiative’s next credit and debt workshop is scheduled for April 25 at 5:30 p.m. at 130 Mount Vernon Ave., Mount Vernon.