Hi, my name is Beth and this is my hope story…

I started the Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas Family Financial Transformations™ program back in December. I am a single mom of three kids and had been struggling with my finances for the past few months.

In December, I came to Catholic Charities to enroll in Kansas Loan Pool Project  (KLPP) but I changed my mind and decided to do the Family Financial Transformations™ program after reviewing what both programs had to offer. During my first appointment, I created goals with my Catholic Charities’ case manager discussing where I was and where I wanted to be. My three most important goals were to payoff my payday loans, saving $1,000 for emergencies and to enroll in school to get my early childhood education degree.

We all reviewed my budget – my case manager, my financial mentor, and me – and found out that with some modification I’ll be able to pay the three payday loans in two months, start saving money for my emergency savings and pay the $380 dollar enrollment fee for college. After drafting my December budget, we set money aside to pay off the first payday loan ($275) and save some ($130) for my enrollment fee. In January, I saved $250 for my enrollment fee that was due on the 21st of January and I also was able to pay the two other payday loans. So far I’ve been able to complete two of my three goals. I now have $288 saved in my emergency fund and used some of my tax refund to pay two student loans and some collections reported on my credit report. I am so grateful to the Family Financial Transformations™ program, without their help I don’t know if I could have reached my goals.