L-60’s Billy Stroud stands in the home he was able to keep thanks to the Union Plus Mortgage Program.
L-60’s Stroud uses program to hold things together during long bout with unemployment, disability
BILLY STROUD, a member of Local 60 (Peoria, Ill.), joined the IBB in 2002, after working 37 years as an Ironworker. A 26-year homeowner, Stroud had been through recessions and dealt with workplace injuries and had always come out on top, paying his bills each month and saving money his whole life. But going nearly two years without work was almost too much for him. In fact, Stroud isn’t sure he would have been able to keep his home if he hadn’t been able to tap into the assistance his IBB Union Plus Mortgage provided.
Stroud spent 18 months recovering from injury and illness, all without a paycheck. Then just as he was ready to get back to work, the slow economy hit, which left him out of work for another four months. “I wasn’t even drawing unemployment,” he says. “They were tough times.”
For the longest time Stroud couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But fortunately, just before the tough times hit, he’d had a very bright idea. In the process of refinancing his home he had seen a flyer about the IBB Union Plus Mortgage Program and thought, “I want in on this deal.”
IBB Union Plus Mortgages come with a mortgage assistance program that can help cover mortgage payments in the event of unemployment, disability, strike, or lockout. The program offers no-interest loans and an affordable repayment schedule for union members who have had an IBB Union Plus Mortgage for more than a year. The first $1,000 of the assistance loan does not need to be repaid. Since its inception, this special union benefit program has provided more than $7 million in assistance to union members.
Stroud got assistance to cover his mortgage for three months, enough to get him through the worst of his situation. The application process was fast, he says, and so was the response from Union Plus. “Help came just in time,” he says.
“You never think you’ll need it, but it sure is good to have it,” says Stroud.
Stroud was finally able to return to work this past winter, but then suffered a shoulder injury. Only this time he’s collecting disability, and he says he can’t wait to return to work. “I’ve been down to the union hall, and they’re saying hurry up and get back to work,” he says. “That’s just what I want to do.”
The most important lesson Stroud learned during his hardship? “When times are tough you learn who your friends are,” he says. Like his buddy who drove 60 miles to lend Stroud the money to pay his electrical bill. And like the mortgage assistance program, which helped keep Stroud in his home.
“I wouldn’t have been able to pay my mortgage without it,” he says. “It’s the greatest thing.”
To learn more about the IBB Union Plus Mortgage Program, call 1-800-848-6466 (8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. E.T. Mon – Fri; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. E.T. Sat). You may also visit UnionPlus.org to find out more information on this and the more than 50 other Union Plus programs available to IBB members.
