Milagros's Story

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Building a Better Financial Future—for Her Children

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For Milagros Torres, financial wellness is about more than her own future. It's about giving her children the knowledge and opportunities to build better lives of their own.

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As a mother of an 18-year-old and a 12-year-old, Milagros wanted to strengthen her finances, build credit, and learn how to manage a budget with greater confidence.

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“I’m learning skills I didn’t have before,” she said. “And then I can teach my kids about these things so that they’ll be in a better place when they reach my age.”

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Her long-term goal is to become a homeowner, ideally in the Voorhees area of Camden County. Her journey toward that goal began at Cathedral Kitchen, an FWI community partner, where she attended a financial wellness workshop.

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At the time, Milagros needed help getting her finances back on track.

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“I needed some help cleaning up some bills,” Torres said, “and with Wanda’s help, I got out of debt.”

With an established savings account but no credit history, Milagros also needed to learn how to begin building credit responsibly. Through FWI's financial wellness support, she gained new skills and strategies to strengthen her financial foundation.

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For Milagros, having support along the way made a difference.

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“She kept me on point with my goal. She would call, check in with me. It wasn’t just a job for her,” she said, “And I really appreciated that. She helped me to get where I wanted to be.”

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Today, Milagros is continuing to build the financial skills and confidence needed to reach her homeownership goal—and pass those lessons on to her children.

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How FWI Helped

FWI helped Milagros strengthen her financial foundation through financial wellness education, debt-management support, budgeting guidance, and credit-building strategies. Through ongoing encouragement and practical tools, FWI helped her establish healthier financial habits and create a path toward her long-term goal of homeownership.

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Just as importantly, FWI helped Milagros gain knowledge she can share with her children—creating an opportunity for financial confidence to carry forward to the next generation.

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Building Skills. Building Confidence. Building What's Next.

Milagros's story is a powerful reminder that financial education can reach beyond one person—it can become a foundation for an entire family.