Milwaukee County working families are getting a hand in keeping good paying jobs. The Ways to Work program, coordinated in Milwaukee County by the Social Development Commission (SDC), is achieving that by helping provide reliable transportation to qualifying residents.
There are family supporting jobs available in the Metro Milwaukee area but often they are located in outlying areas that are away from available public transportation. If a worker does not have a reliable vehicle, getting and keeping a job often can be severely challenging. Or if they have had problems with their credit, it can be difficult to obtain a traditional bank loan to buy a car.
The Ways to Work program provides low-interest loans to qualifying low and moderate income working families with transportation needs. The loans are used to purchase reliable used vehicles that will get the residents to and from work.
“Ryan” is a young Milwaukee County resident who was struggling financially and had credit problems before he came to SDC’s Ways to Work. After applying to take part in the program, he took a financial literacy class before receiving a loan. He used that loan to buy a vehicle for transportation to his job. He credits the program with helping him begin to rebuild his and his family’s lives by allowing him to keep his family supporting job.
The National Ways to Work program recently presented the Premier Program Award to SDC’s Ways to Work program. The local effort was singled out for helping families rebuild their credit, obtain and keep better paying jobs, and allowing working parents to spend less time traveling to work and more quality time with their families.
To find out more about Ways to Work and its eligibility requirements, visit the SDC website at www.cr-sdc.org, then click on the Programs page and then on the link to Ways to Work. Or call the Ways to Work Inquiry Line at 414-906-2822.
