A nonprofit group launched a program this week intended to make it easier for low-income families to get around. Ways to Work, administered by the nonprofit Family Matters of Greater Washington, is offering up to $6,000 in low-interest loans to help parents buy a used car or fix a car they already own. Families in the District, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are eligible.
“One of the biggest issues that parents face, especially in D.C., is that a lot of parents don’t have means to transportation, especially if they don’t live along the Metro line or public transportation,” said Tonya Smallwood Jackson, CEO of Family Matters of Greater Washington. “So getting kids to daycare, going to the laundromat, getting to work, is a real challenge.”
The national program is funded locally by PNC Bank and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. It has already made 50 loans at 8 percent interest to area residents and plans make about 100 more this year, Smallwood Jackson said.
The national program received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $2 million from the Walmart Foundation and was launched to combat predatory lending.
Loan recipients must be the legal guardian of a child, demonstrate character in interviews and receive financial training.
Southeast D.C. resident Dana Wright, one of the local program’s first recipients, said the loan lets her pay half of what she was paying on Metrobus, rail and taxis to go to work, church and the grocery store. She said she got into debt after her husband lost his job and her son died after a lengthy illness.
“[The loan] has opened a lot of doors for me with my workplace and even with my creditors. It helps me keep my debt in control, my payments, me coming home on time, me being a team player with my family right now,” Wright said.
D.C. Mayor Vince Gray backs the program.
“By linking District residents with access to reliable transportation, it’s much more likely they’ll access higher paying jobs, better health care and child care,” he said in a statement.
The program already operates in 21 states, lending about $63 million so far. A study by an outside consultant showed that on average borrowers increased their credit scores by 32 points and that 94 percent got better jobs. About 90 percent repay the loans. Most of its clients are single mothers, program representatives said.
