The Affordable Housing Bulletin
November 12, 2003

In this issue:
In Delaware
Ways to Work is Here!
New Study - The Impact of Welfare Reform on Delaware Nonprofits


Ways to Work Is Here!
PNC Bank and Nehemiah Gateway CDC Partner to Make Loans to Low-Income Working Parents for Cars

Ways to Work is a national model loan program that started in Minnesota in 1984 to provide access to credit to low-income workers for automobile purchase or repair, mortgage or housing expense, childcare, and other purposes. Since then, Ways to Work has expanded its operations into 38 communities in 21 states and has loaned $24,870,594 to 18,874 low-income parents to help them stay on the job or in school. The Nehemiah Gateway Community Development Corporation (NGCDC) is bringing Ways to Work to Delaware to address the need for personal transportation among the working poor. As we know, Delaware has an extremely limited public transportation system with service ending by 10 pm on weekday evenings, curtailed on Saturdays, and non-existent on Sundays. This handicap eliminates many job possibilities on second and third shifts or in the suburbs, where entry level career opportunities are greatest. This scenario is not unique to Delaware. The overwhelming need for transportation
among the working poor nationally is demonstrated by ninety per cent of the Ways to Work borrowers across the country who have requested loans up to $4,000 to help them buy or repair a used car.

In Delaware the program is a partnership between the Nehemiah Gateway CDC, PNC Bank, GMAC Bank, and Ways to Work National and will serve low income working parents in New Castle County. While PNC is the official lender for the program, Nehemiah Gateway oversees and manages program operations. This includes marketing, working with borrowers, organizing and facilitating the loan committee which is composed of community and banking stakeholders, and managing collections. The program director will also steer borrowers to used car dealers who are cooperating with the program and will help borrowers to address unforeseen problems that could interfere with successful repayment. In addition Nehemiah guarantees each loan 100% with a significant loan loss reserve, on deposit at PNC. To qualify for the program, borrowers must be:

* employed in the same job for at least 6 months,
* an involved parent,
* a resident of New Castle County, and
* at or below 80% of New Castle County median income.
*


If you work with someone who needs to buy, repair, or refinance a car, please tell them about Ways to Work and give them this number for more information:
1-800-595-3298
Thank you for spreading the word!
[Mary Dupont, Nehemiah Gateway, Community Development Corporation, 302-655-0803, mary@marydupont.com ]

New Study - the Impact of Welfare Reform on Delaware Nonprofits
The Impact of Welfare Reform on Nonprofits and the People They Serve, a report to the Aspen Institute by the Center for Community Research and Service of the University of Delaware, has just been released. The authors are Dr. Karen A. Curtis, PhD, Principal Investigator, and Ivory Copeland, M.A., Research Associate.

Among the conclusions of the study are that "welfare reform policy changes have produced unforeseen consequences for nonprofit sector capacity and inter-organizational relationships in Delaware." Specifically,

* Staff of surveyed agencies spend "increasing amounts of time on welfare rules that affect their clients, particularly child care, workfare, sanctions, and job searches."
* "Requests for basic needs and emergency assistance have increased since welfare reform was enacted, while documentation and paperwork are now significant administrative burdens."
* The "central foci of welfare reform -- decreasing welfare dependence, enforcing work, and establishing penalties for noncompliance - have impacted agencies' work with clients," and
* that "since welfare reform it is more difficult to give clients the help they need."

The study has a number of interesting findings regarding the funding and performance of nonprofit contractors. It also points to one very troublesome side effect in the area of advocacy. Nonprofits' participation in the implementation of welfare reform has "affected their capacity to engage in public policy activities."

The full report, The Impact of Welfare Reform on Nonprofits and The People They Serve in Delaware, is available at www.udel.edu/ccrs . A summary of the findings will appear in The Realities of Poverty in Delaware, 2003 - 2004, which will be published by the Delaware Housing Coalition in December.