The following article appeared in Buffalo First:

Grant helps jobless get back to work
Business First of Buffalo – by Tracey Drury

A Buffalo nonprofit agency has received a $320,000 grant to expand a program that helps individuals get back to work.  Child & Family Services received the new funding for 2009 through the national Ways to Work program, designed to help provide loans up to $4,000 to enable individuals to maintain employment, complete college or purchase a reliable used car to provide transportation to work.  The Milwaukee-based organization is funded by the McNight Foundation and the Alliance for Children and Families, of which Child & Family is a member agency.

The Ways to Work program also provides loans for business purposes, such as funding the purchase of carpeting or fencing for an in-home day-care provider; or to acquire equipment for a snow plow or landscaping business.  Often, the education orientation session alone makes a difference, helping participants develop a spending plan or learn how to address or negotiate delinquent credit and access free tax preparation, says program director Laurie Schaller.   “Because there’s no income limit, I think the working families are not aware of the availability of this loan program,” Schaller says.  “Employers, as well – this is a service that can help to retain their workforce.”  Since 1999, the local agency has made nearly 1,000 loans worth more than $2.25 million through the loan program, with a 90 percent repayment rate.
The loans also serve to help families build or improve their credit rating. Nationally, the agency is in the top 88th percentile for loan
volume.  Local funders for the program include M&T Bank and HSBC Bank.  All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

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