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 DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - A new program in Duluth is attempting to help the poor solve one of their biggest challenges: dependable transportation.
The program is called Jump Start Duluth. It grew out of anti-poverty workshops and a United Way report on the problems facing people who can't afford a good car.
It gives low-income people the chance to qualify for a low-interest five-year loan. The applicants have to show they have enough money to afford payments, typically between $100 and $200 monthly. If they qualify, they can choose a car from a nonprofit dealership in Glenwood City, Wis., that buys auction cars with low miles.
Denise Lewis of Duluth remembers scraping together $500 two years ago to buy a 1996 Dodge Neon with 200,000 miles. It looked great but quickly wound up in the repair shop for a broken transmission, and Lewis went without the car for six months until she could afford the repair bill.
Lewis says she nearly cried when she learned this week that she had qualified for the Jump Start program.
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Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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