Episode 1 of Homegrown Tales (formerly known as Homegrown): Although I wouldn’t consider myself fluent, I could speak Spanish better than I could speak English to my English-speaking mortgage loan officer. I knew no terms — amortization, closing costs, earnest money, equity, escrow, principle and interest (P&I). Just talking to him was so overwhelming that I almost bulked on buying. But once he suggested grant money to knock off a few thousand dollars — if I agreed to at least live in my property for five years — my interest was piqued.

But something had to give. I needed to talk to someone who knew the language and could make this process easier. A casual Google search led me to the Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) First Time Home Buyer Education program, where I met my first Homegrown: An Ode to Sugarbowl Sam podcast guest. After his three-part, two-hour workshop, even my loan officer admitted he was impressed (and a bit surprised) by our conversations after that. For more information on Christopher Meeks, check out Shamontiel's Substack series "Homegrown Tales."