Sepic, Matt. "Car Repair Program Helps Working
Poor." National Public Radio 20 Dec. 2004. .
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4235931>.
December 20, 2004
STEVE INSKEEP, host: Many Americans would have no chance to work if they didn't have a car to get them there. A reliable ride can make the difference between a paycheck and a welfare check, and now a popular program is helping the working poor to get low-interest vehicle loans. Matt Sepic reports from member station KWMU.
MATT SEPIC reporting:
Twenty-seven-year-old Crystal Overton(ph) works as an administrative assistant at a motorcycle dealership, but until recently, she had major money problems. She filed bankruptcy to get out from under thousands in credit card debt. Her nine-year-old car kept breaking down, and a new one was the last thing she could afford.
Ms. CRYSTAL OVERTON: I was having to depend on my boyfriend, and I also had to depend on neighbors' cars and family and everything to come pick me up, and then they ended up getting me another car, just like a temporary car--actually it was my dad's car and I was just borrowing it.
SEPIC: After bumming rides from co-workers and even her boss, a friend told her about a program new to St. Louis called Ways to Work that provides low-interest loans, usually around 8 or 9 percent, to working parents for car repairs or to buy a more reliable vehicle. Since it's a last resort, St. Louis program manager Karen Jackson says credit history is not a factor.
Ms. KAREN JACKSON (Program Manager): We are giving character loans. We are not giving loans based on credit. Basically we look at stability, do they have any type of job stability, first of all? We look at income. Is there enough money left over after monthly household expenses have been paid to include a car payment?
SEPIC: To even be considered for a loan, applicants must first learn how to budget. Five of them are gathered here in Ways to Work's St. Louis office today for a required personal finance class. Teacher Suzanne Zimmelman(ph) is showing them how to prioritize their spending.
Ms. SUZANNE ZIMMELMAN (Teacher): If you spend $1.50 a day on stuff that you don't remember what you bought, and it wasn't really something that was getting you towards your values or your goals that you wrote down, in five years, that $1.50 is $2,700.
SEPIC: Zimmelman says her class is more about developing a personal financial philosophy than balancing a checkbook.
Ms. ZIMMELMAN: A lot of what people are often missing is that connect between what it is that they really value and is important to them in their lives--not just things--and where their money goes.
SEPIC: Ways to Work started in Minnesota 20 years ago and went to other states in the mid-'90s. National president Jeff Faulkner says it met a previously unknown need.
Mr. JEFF FAULKNER (President, Ways to Work): It started because they basically asked low-income single mothers what would most help them progress along the way and secure a better, more secure stream of income, and transportation was the single biggest issue.
SEPIC: Faulkner says the program now has about 50 locations nationwide and has helped thousands stay off welfare. This year, the US Department of Transportation kicked in $345,000 to bring the program to St. Louis, but the non-profit has to match the money with local donations. Crystal Overton, one of the first St. Louis recipients, says Ways to Work helped her at a time when she had few other options.
Ms. OVERTON: I probably would have had to wait until income tax time and probably would have had to put all my whole check down to get a car, or I probably would have had to take a chance to go down to St. Louis or something where they've got the `buy here, pay heres' where you put, like, $500 down, make payments every two weeks.
SEPIC: Overton has just signed the paperwork to buy a four-year-old Pontiac. More importantly, she says, she's learned how to better manage money and now feels like she doesn't have to worry about losing her job because she can't get a ride to work. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepic in St. Louis.
INSKEEP: The time is 21 minutes before the hour.
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