Affordable Car Loans Program Expands to Ozaukee County

Ready to give out as many car loans as there are qualified working parents who want them, Ways to Work Loan Manager Janet Tierney is on the hunt for candidates in rural areas of Wisconsin that the program has recently expanded to: Ozaukee, Waukesha and Washington counties. 

The expansion is a test run for the program, which started in 1984 in Minneapolis and has primarily operated in urban areas, including Milwaukee, where it is now headquartered. If it's successful, the program could move into other rural areas, which Tierney said are increasingly afflicted by a lack of access to loans.

"We knew we had a great need right in our backyard, in our rural communities," Tierney said. "Almost every time I talk to a banker, they’re saying the credit score has to be higher and higher and higher to get a loan."

Tierney said a car loan is an important step for low-income families struggling to make ends meet.

"If you have a car to get to and from work, if your kids are sick you can hop in the car and help them rather than wait for a two hour bus ride, or a car pool at the end of the day," Tierney said. "Sometimes it allows people to work more hours because they can come and go when they want to."

According to a program evaluation by ICF International, 41 percent of Ways to Work clients see an increase in take-home pay after receiving a loan and 50 percent access further education or job training.

The expansion to Ozaukee, Waukesha and Washington counties began June 1, and so far Tierney said she has given out ten loans. But the program is just getting started, and she said she hopes the pace will continue to pick up as people find out about it.

Unlike the Milwaukee branch, Tierney doesn't have an office for her expansive new three-county zone. Instead, she travels to banks near applicants to meet with them where it is convenient, sometimes within walking distance of their homes.

When a client is approved for a $4,000-6,000 loan, the process has only just begun. Clients take a three-hour course on managing finances, and they frequently call Tierney with questions.

"We’re working with people with challenged credit, and it’s not always easy to admit that even to yourself, or change your behaviors," Tierney said. "People want to talk me, and they ask a lot of very detailed, personal questions."

This relationship helps with another goal of the Ways to Work program: to improve clients' credit scores so that they can become financially stable.

"You can't really function in today’s society if you don’t have credit," Tierney said.

The assistance seems to be working. According to the ICF evaluation, less than 13 percent of Ways to Work loan recipients default on their loan, while the national average for people with similar incomes and credit scores is 80 to 90 percent.

Tierney said an extra motivation for people to pay back their loans is that the money gets funneled right into someone else in a similar place of need that they were once in.

"People have lost sight of the idea that the money that you are borrowing is money from someone else who is saving it, and that money you pay back helps someone else buy something," Tierney said. "When you pay back the loan, you're making the opportunity for someone else."

Only parents over 18 with a valid driver's license are eligible. Applicants must have been employed for at least three months working 20 hours a week or more, or enrolled full-time in school. They must have a poor credit score and meet a household income limitation. 

To see if you qualify, call Tierney at 855-989-5626.