Program Spotlight
The CARes Project, Inc. with Heidi Eddy
The CARes Project, Inc.
The CARes Project, Inc. was established in 2016 as a non-profit 501(c )(3) agency, certified as a Community Development Financial Institution by the US Treasury. Our vision is that all people in our community are financially secure. We work towards making that vision a reality by providing loans and financial coaching to credit challenged, working adults to purchase or repair an automobile that is affordable and reliable. Our used vehicle loans are 48-60 month loans of up to $15,000 with a 7 to 10% interest rate.
We serve low and moderate-income individuals in our North Carolina service area who are 18 years or older, are employed and have been employed for one year or more, and who are unable to qualify for a vehicle loan through traditional lending institutions due to no or poor credit (credit score of 600 or below). Statistically, our customers are 77% Female, 23% Male; 82% single or divorced/widowed, 18% married; 75% African American, 6% Hispanic/Latino, 19% White. The average household size is three members – usually a single parent with two children under the age of 18. The number of people we serve is dependent on the grant funding we receive from local non-profit agencies, foundations, banking institutions, and the CDFI. In 2024, we had almost 300 inquiries about our program, worked with 160 applicants, and provided 16 vehicle loans.
Our application process is built around financial education and financial coaching. Every step of the application process (even filling out the application!) includes some form of financial education, so that whether or not a person completes the application process, they come away with more financial knowledge than they started. Our financial education workshops consist of education about needs vs wants, tools to begin self-evaluation of income and expenses, learning to read a bank statement, learning how banks transfer funds (often the source of our customers’ problems with non-payment is due to insufficient funds and associated fees), introduction to a budget and the importance of budgeting, the value of emergency funds, and an introduction to the costs and benefits of credit. We include a pre- and post- test of basic financial literacy as well as a Transtheoretical Model of change Questionnaire.
Heidi K. Eddy
Certified Personal Financial Wellness Consultant℠ and Certified Financial Education Instructor℠
During financial coaching, as a certified personal financial wellness consultant, I take applicants through client intake process. Because my coaching time is limited (roughly 3 to 5 hours per applicant), we focus on setting short-, mid- and long-term financial goals, budget building, savings building, understanding their credit history and improving credit. Depending on the individual’s needs, we may also delve into subjects such as home ownership, retirement funding, and college savings. After a loan has been approved and a customer has purchased a vehicle, financial coaching and education continues as we try to help our customers follow through on changes they have begun to make new financial habits permanent.
We consider our program’s success by our customers’ increased financial security and independence as a result of financial education, coaching, and reliable transportation. This success is measured in several ways:
Underlying the primary outcome of financial security and independence are less quantifiable outcomes that our customers report: improvement in financial, mental, and emotional health as a result of our program:
Accomplishments
In addition to the outcomes listed above, some of our biggest accomplishments are seen with people who initially applied for the program and did not qualify because their budget would not support additional expenses. During financial coaching they recognized the need for changes, established some financial goals (which often included increasing income by working more hours or picking up a side gig), and came back 3 to 12 months later in the position to qualify and be approved for a loan.
Other accomplishments include having our first CARes loan recipient pay off her CARes Project car loan and then trade her car in with a low interest vehicle loan through a bank because her credit score had increased 92 points over the life of the loan–enough to qualify for traditional lending opportunities.
We have four customers in the last 12 months who have reported that they are either in the process of or have completed the purchase of their first home. Home ownership was a mid-or long-term financial goal that at the time of application they believed was beyond their reach.
In two situations, we have had adult children go through The CARes Project’s program successfully whose parents later applied to the program because they were so impressed by the changes their children have made.
NFEC Credentials
Certified Financial Education Instructor (12, 2022) and Certified Financial Wellness Consultant (July 2025). I am working toward accredited status. These credentials put The CARes Project and its program on a different level – a step above in the professionalism and the quality of education and coaching we provide. Not only do the NFEC credentials positively impact the quality of our coaching and education of our customers, they also positively impact our ability to raise funds. Our financial coaching and education stand out as unique features of our program in our grant writing, emphasizing the quality and professionalism of the resources we provide our customers.
NFEC Resources
Surveys and questionnaires, especially the transtheoretical model of change survey. A version of this measure is used during the application process and is one of the first documents I review in preparation for financial coaching. NFEC lessons, especially those on credit and budgeting, savings, car loans, and debt payment are used to supplement financial coaching. I use the client intake forms as part of financial coaching preparation.
Plans for Growth
Our program’s growth/impact is dependent upon funding we receive to use as loan capital. To grow our program means to be able to offer financial coaching, financial education, and vehicle loans to greater numbers of credit challenged, working individuals in our service area. The plan for this growth is to be able to demonstrate the success of our program to potential funders, which in turn allows us to provide loans to more applicants, and then to expand into other counties so that The CARes Project, Inc. is a statewide resource. Growth is also gained through our social media presence and building awareness of our agency through presentations to other non-profits and businesses in the area who then refer clients and employees to us. When time permits, I present financial education classes to clients at other local non-profit agencies, which also generates future customers for The CARes Project.