by Amelia Ables —
Arieale Munson was 16 years old when she became a mother. Since then, she has founded a non-profit, written a book and become a motivational speaker. With motherhood as the priority, she vowed to provide her two sons with their own home to feel safe, and she recently purchased her first home through the RISE Foundation’s Save Up Program.
Two weeks after closing on her first home, the house caught fire, destroying all of her family’s possessions. Material possessions, said Munson, aren’t the most important.
“People say to me, ‘You lost everything, but you’re still smiling.’ But I didn’t lose everything,” she said. “I still have the gift of life. My sons and I are still standing strong. Sometimes God tests your faith, but I know something good will come out of this.”
Rather than celebrate Mother’s Day in their new home, Munson’s family is living in a nearby apartment. They are in good spirits, and are prepared to move forward in rebuilding and repairing their home.
The Save Up Program is a matched savings account program that teaches participants to create a budget based on their income and expenses and to establish a bank account and purchase assets, such as homes and vehicles.
Within 10 months of beginning the program, Munson had saved enough money paired with matching funds from RISE for a down payment for a home.
“The program gave me a refresher on different things, such as how to increase my credit score and save money,” she said.
RISE provided Munson with the tools to purchase a home, but she said her sons are the motivation for her accomplishments.
“A lot of people counted me out when I got pregnant as a teenager, but God pushed me through. I’ve experienced domestic abuse and being a teenage single mother,” she said. “Now, I want to be resourceful and useful to the community, and I take a lot of pride in giving back.”
Munson founded her non-profit, Operation Taking Back 901, in 2016. Three years later, she published her first book, “When Pleasing Has No Purpose,” which tells the story of how misery connected her to her ministry.
She continues to live out her story despite the home-destroying fire. What she learned in the Save Up program, she said, “is helping me balance my budget and still save. I’ve been working from home, bought a home, lost a home, and now I’m re-building a home, but I’m still advocating for my community through my non-profit.”
This Mother’s Day is also her youngest son’s ninth birthday.
“Our plans are to have a cake and just be together as a family. My greatest gift is seeing my kids grow up and knowing I can give them things I didn’t have.”
(To learn more about the RISE Foundation and their Save Up program, visit http://risememphis.org/.)
