Wendy Hanson, Community Impact Director United Way of Southern Cameron County Brownsville, Texas November 2011

A wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Grande Valley Multibank Southernmost tip of Texas Border with Mexico Demographics: 91% Hispanic 53% of children in poverty Per capita income of $9.700 49% of population over 25 haven’t graduated from high school Demographers project that the United States will increasingly look like Brownsville. Our present is forecast to become your future.

Details Loan Size $300-$1,000 Term 3 month-12 months Interest Rate and Fees $20 Administrative Fee & 18% Interest Qualifications Employed minimum 3 months Bank Checking Account Valid ID & Social Security Card Minimum Monthly Income of $900 Minimum Age of 18 Loan estimated at 50% of monthly income. Target Customers Employees at Companies with over 50 employees. The luxury of planning – having six months to examine data, reflect, talk to everyone involved and figure out what’s true and what’s not. One thing the district is doing really well is recovering dropouts, so we had lots of kids who were back in school. It was easy to talk to them and their families. Zero experience in this type of work. Good because it meant no preconceived notions about situation.

No Credit History Needed No Collateral No Prepayment Penalties These are our guiding principles in everything we do. We assume we know NOTHING and that we want to know as close to EVERYTHING as is possible.

The Process Online application through HR CLC Coordinator Verifies Employment & Approves Loan Loan is funded through Direct Deposit & Repaid Through Payroll Deduction The usual suspects. The district recommended we go straight into strategy development to address the needs of these kids.

Progress To Date: Yikes. Started October 3, 2011 Original grant December 2009 Average Loan size: $921 Total 42 Loans Made 3 Employers Serving 1,530 employees Yikes.

Challenges: Community Loan Center Default Rates Web-based Vendor Licensing Default Rates Number of Loans and Amount of Money Needed Unknowns Students in the 2010 cohort who would not graduate on time had 62% more absences in 8th grade and 55% more absences in 9th grade than students who will graduate on time. Students in the 2010 cohort who graduated on time passed an average of 3.5 of the 4 TAKS sections as compared to 2.3 sections passed for those who will not graduate on time. On-time graduates complete an average of 3.8 core courses in 9th grade compared to 2.1 courses for those not graduating on time.

Thank you