Give to the Max Day
With Give to the Max Day a week away, we celebrate the season with our participant stories, as Melissa and Isabella* highlight the importance of our work – and the reasons why we need your help to reach our $12,000 goal.
Melissa’s Story on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)
As today’s MPR News feature shows, our work matters in Minnesota. In this segment, our executive director, Sara Nelson-Pallmeyer talks about payday lending while one of our program graduates, Melissa, shares her story with payday loans. For Melissa, unexpected medical bills and a surprise loss of income lead her to payday loans. After about five months, she had about $1,200 in loans and was paying about $100 in fees and interest every two weeks.
“They’re astronomical and unaffordable.”
Melissa was caught up in the payday loan debt trap – she couldn’t cover her other essential expenses and make those expensive, never-ending loan payments. To break free from the cycle, she connected with us and paid off her debt. She joined the hundreds of payday loan borrowers we’ve helped since April 2015 and is now payday loan debt free.
Isabella’s Story
Melissa’s journey is far from our only success story. Take Isabella, who was also struggling with a tight budget when a minor car accident and subsequent loss in hours at work drained her funds dry.
Needing the money to care for her children and extended family, she turned to a payday lender. She read the paperwork and was astonished at how expensive it was, but she was desperate and felt as though she and no other option. She signed the dotted line. Then, the weight of her decision – and her newly acquired debt – began to take its toll.
“I’m not gonna get out of the hole.”
Isabella could not see a way out of debt. She spent months only paying the interest on her loan until she learned about our program and enrolled. Since then, she has paid off her Exodus Lending loan and is free from the payday loan debt trap.
Read more of Isabella’s story, as well as our other participant stories.
Donate Today!
Exodus Lending is only able to help people like Melissa and Isabella because of generous donors. Your gift allows us to continue making a positive change in people’s lives. Help us pursue our work further with a gift for Give to the Max Day.
We’ve already secured over $2,000 towards our $3,000 goal, so we’ve decided to stretch our goal to $6,000, plus a generous dollar-for-dollar match to bring us to $12,000 total. With this amount, we can support 12 participants through our year-long refinancing program.
Here’s how you can donate to Exodus Lending for Give to the Max Day 2018:
1. Give directly through our GiveMN page
2. Mail a check to Exodus Lending at 2805 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
UPDATE: Together, we raised over $13,500 for Exodus Lending. Thank you!
Between November 1st and the 15th, Exodus Lending supporters not only reached our stretch goal of $6,000 to obtain our $6,000 match, but you also exceeded expectations by giving another $1,000 in gifts AND earning us a $500 golden ticket. That’s $13,500 total, which allows us to support at least 13 new program participants.
We are honored to have your support as we fight to eradicate predatory lending in Minnesota. Our work is only possible because of donors like you. Your contributions will help 13 people break free from payday loan debt. Thank you!