Member Stories

CWA Contest Winner Receives Two Monthly Mortgage Payments

The Union Plus Mortgage Team

December 16, 2016

Home ownership is nothing new for West Chester, Pa., resident Deborah Weischedel. Having been a homeowner most of her adult life, she is well-acquainted with the benefits of home ownership. However, when life circumstances forced her to sell her house a couple years ago, Weischedel wanted to get into another one as quickly as possible.

"I’m recently divorced. I’m getting back on my feet again, I had to sell a big, beautiful house that I owned on acres of land. Being able to buy something of my own again was a big priority for me."

The Union Plus Mortgage Program, with financing provided by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, helped Weischedel purchase a new house, which she moved into in July 2013. She received an e-mail regarding the Union Plus Home Sweet Home Contest earlier this spring and decided to enter.
“I don’t usually enter contests, but it seemed like such a simple process,” she said.

Homeowners with a Union Plus Mortgage were eligible to win either a first-place prize of two monthly mortgage payments or a second-place prize of one monthly mortgage payment (up to $1500 each). Contestants simply needed to upload a photo of their homes at UnionPlus.org and submit an essay explaining what home ownership means to them.

"I’ve been a homeowner almost my entire life up until the past couple years," Weischedel said. "It was devastating to have sold my home. To have a place of my own and not throw away money on rent, to be able to work toward something – it just gives you a feeling of confidence."

Much to her surprise, Weischedel, who serves as treasurer for CWA Local 13301 in Ridley Park, Pa., won the contest’s first place prize.

"I’ve never won anything of any significance; I was very excited," Weischedel said. "Being a new homeowner, there are things I need to get done to make it more of my own. That helps me get these projects started."

Union members can apply for a mortgage loan through the Union Plus Mortgage program by phone or meet with a home mortgage consultant face-to-face in areas where Wells Fargo has branch office locations. The program provides a full range of competitively priced mortgage loans for purchasing and refinancing, including conventional, FHA and VA loans.

Weischedel is quick to tell fellow union members about benefits offered through Union Plus.
“I always tell people at meetings about the Union Plus programs,” she said. “There are so many good benefits for union members.”

Thanks to Union Plus, Weischedel is once again a homeowner, and she can attest that it is home sweet home.

“It’s such a good feeling to be back working toward goals in life,” she said. “Everything is good.”

The Union Plus Mortgage program has provided more than $40 billion in mortgages to help more than 260,000 union members and their families buy or refinance a home. It is packed with special benefits tailored to meet the needs of active or retired union members, as well as their parents and children, who want to buy or refinance a home.

Some of the benefits of the Union Plus Mortgage program include:

• Hardship Assistance – Union Plus Mortgage Assistance¹ helps members and their families who are unemployed, recently disabled, on strike, or locked out make their mortgage payments with interest-free loans and grants. Mortgage Assistance has provided more than $11 million to help members keep their loans current and stay in their homes.
• Award Card – Union members and their families receive a Wells Fargo My Mortgage Gift^SM award card after closing on a purchase or refinance loan, $500 for buying a home or $300 for refinancing a home²

Learn more about the
Union Plus Mortgage program

And if you have a home to buy or sell, look into Union Plus Real Estate Rewards which provides discounts to union families, over 4,600 experienced, pre-screened agents nationwide, and even offers a cash-back rebate program, available in most states.