Testimony from Microlending program

When Terri moved to Wisconsin from Illinois, she had all of her ducks in a row – she thought.

After facing unexpected financial hurdles, she was left with nothing. She connected with St. Vincent de Paul — Madison and received a home visit from two Vincentian members, Dick and Marie. During their time together, a glimmer of hope emerged.

Terri became the first recipient of a microloan from our new program. Thanks to this assistance, Terri’s title loan payment went from $437 / month at a 305% interest rate to $74 / month at a 5% interest rate. This allowed her to move into her apartment, pay off her moving costs and reestablish her saving goals.

Further, she connected with two of our Vincentian home visitors, Dick and Marie, who offered compassion and a listening ear to Terri during this stressful time in her life. This person-to-person service is essential to how we help our neighbors in need. As Dick said, “In a lot of cases the help we see is emotional relief on the part of the people to know that there’s someone there listening to them.”