News & Stories

Chicago Mom Grateful for Financial Opportunities with Support from Center for Changing Lives and LISC

Justin Breen
5.22.2018

Brook Ziolkowski really relished the recent Mother’s Day card and pink-and-white necklace she received from her 4-year-old daughter, Marlani.

The gifts represented Ziolkowski’s understanding that she had turned the corner in life and was leaving her past – filled with incarceration and drug and alcohol addiction – in the rearview mirror.

“I can say that the grass is definitely greener on this side of life than it was on the other side,” said Ziolkowski, who turns 40 on May 23 and will celebrate two years’ sobriety on Aug. 16. “It’s gone the other way so many times, and I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish.”

Ziolkowski credited the Logan Square-based Center for Changing Lives (CCL) with changing her life. Since September 2017, when she first visited CCL, Ziolkowski has improved her credit score by 54 points, found stable employment as a recruiter at P&K Research and has been able to save for the future. She was also approved for a Housing Choice Voucher and has started looking for an apartment that will be a more affordable home for her and Marlani.

Brook and her daughter Marlani.
Brook and her daughter Marlani.

CCL is one of 10 community-based Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago supports. The FOCs are intended to help increase financial stability for residents in neighborhoods across the city.

From 2005-2017, LISC Chicago’s FOC Network has supported more than:

Jennifer McClain, Director of Financial Opportunities at LISC Chicago, said Ziolkowski’s success story is one of many that represents what the FOCs accomplish.

“In all the negatives that you see in the news, it’s good to see individuals that, with a little support, can go from an idea of what they want to accomplish in life to actually achieving it,” McClain said. “With support of the coaches at the FOC, they get the resources they need to achieve their goals. We truly believe that people are not broken, and we’re just there to support them and achieve whatever vision they have for their lives.”

Ziolkowski, a Bridgeport native and Old Irving Park resident, said she had to miss one of her daughter’s birthdays and, while incarcerated, Marlani lived with relatives. Marlani has been living with Ziolkowski full time since February of this year.

“All that stuff was not fond memories, especially when I couldn’t come to a birthday party or a visit was canceled,” Ziolkowski said. “But I basically have chosen to forget about all that and appreciate what I have now.”

Ziolkowski was referred to CCL by one of her friends when she was on probation and having a problem finding an employer who would hire her. To help with her credit score, Ziolkowski joined a Lending Circle group, while starting the process of expunging her criminal background through CCL’s partnership with Cabrini Green Legal Aid.

"Brook is pretty self-sufficient and motivated all on her own. She knows what she wants and her goals have never been a question,” said Natalie Zayas, Financial Coach, CCL. “A lot of our coaching has been her telling me 'I want to do this thing.' When she gets stuck, she checks in and we talk through it and she always sees whatever the thing is through. When she has met a goal, there is always another that she's ready to take on. Even when something is challenging, she doesn't get discouraged. She stays really positive and keeps persisting."

A year from now, Ziolkowski would like to improve her credit score even more and be on her way to earning an associate’s degree.

“I’m grateful for everything that I have in my life and it feels good to have all my needs met,” Ziolkowski said.