These are unparalleled times, but NeighborWorks America remains committed to creating opportunities for people to live in affordable homes and strengthen their communities, says Kim Drayton, principal member of Thrive Inspire Inc. Drayton led a course on remote homeownership counseling during NeighborWorks' Virtual Training Institute, offering pointers to help housing counselors embrace remote counseling.
Beyond the current pandemic, it's likely that remote counseling will become more common moving forward. So will remote classes. The training session will be offered again this fall.
As counselors, Drayton says, the first thing you should do when operating remotely is to consider your workspace and try to adapt. "This is new for all of us," she says of the virtual space. "There are some of us that have never heard of Zoom, but now Zoom is your life. Don't stress if you don't get it right away."
There are benefits from working at home, Drayton says. Clients may have more time to sign up for counseling. "And we can continue our work," Drayton says. "Sometimes working from home, our productivity increases because we don't have the distractions."
But sometimes, she says, it's hard to establish a designated workspace at home. There are technology issues. Family and friends may call. Pets may sit on your keyboard. "Set boundaries," Drayton says. "Find that dedicated space."
To connect with clients, there are also challenges. If you're connecting by phone, for instance, there is a lack of visual feedback. "And if you're talking on the phone all day, you can have fatigue." But clients know phones, so there's not a learning a learning curve. Phones are accessible and familiar.
Video calls are more engaging, she says, and you can gain visual clues and complex information is easier to get across. No matter how you talk to a client, make sure you minimize distractions, listen with empathy, and walk in your client's shoes. Ask meaningful, open-ended questions. "How did your budget go last month? What were your challenges?"
Some obstacles to remote counseling include document challenges – not all clients have access to printers and scanners, and additional time may be required for mailing. Consider collecting documents and authorizations via mail, email, fax and website. "Let's start testing some of these applications and see what works for us," she says.
Drayton went over technology needed to work remotely (client management systems, virtual private networks and more) and even discussed lighting for video communication ("natural lighting is best," she says). She encouraged the class to create a space to share victories, to vent, and to encourage colleagues.
She also went into detail about programs to help their clients. "Weve had a ton of job losses," Drayton says. "We know top of mind for many right now is avoiding foreclosure, avoiding evictions. It's frightening people."
Participants in the class said they were hearing from clients who had those fears, and that they were getting more requests and calls from clients. Drayton encouraged them to learn as much as they could about relief programs, including moratoriums, student loans under the CARES Act and more. "The more you know, the more you can help them," she says.
08/28/2020
