This past April, I had the pleasure of hosting, and delivering the closing keynote for the League’s Annual Convention.
During my “Cancer, COVID, and 2 Good Dogs” message, I talked about my mission to bring meaningful financial relief to our members who’re suffering with cancer. Half of them will be diagnosed with it at some point in their lives. And because it’s arguably the most expensive health challenge they’ll ever face, cancer will devastate most of them financially.
For over a year, I’ve been working with a small group of credit unions to test various debt relief strategies to help members enduring cancer-related financial distress.
A member at one of those credit unions, New Orleans Firemen’s Federal Credit Union, recently benefitted from NOFFCU’s commitment to this cause.
A woman I’ll call Tina has been ravaged by multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that targets plasma cells, ever since she was diagnosed in 2020.
The anxiety and stress have been overwhelming; keeping up with her NOFFCU car payments has been just the tip of the iceberg:
“Sometimes I get to the point where I just want to say the heck with it all — just let the Lord do what he wants to do and quit doing these treatments. It’s just been a struggle all the way. I’m sitting here trying to figure out how I’m going to survive.”
In March 2024, NOFFCU did something extraordinary: they paused Tina’s car payments for 12 months and dropped the interest rate to 0%.
This will save her and her family over $7,000.
When NOFFCU called Tina to give her the good news, she was thrilled:
“That’s wonderful. Thank you so much. God bless y’all…you’re helping me out tremendously by doing this.”
The pause has already significantly improved Tina’s financial and emotional well-being.
Medical researchers who study cancer-related financial trauma use an assessment called the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST). COST scores can range from 0-44, with a lower score equating to greater financial toxicity.
In September 2023, Tina’s COST score was 6, indicating a severe level of financial distress.
In April 2024, a week after the payment pause was put into place, Tina’s COST score was 21 — an improvement of 250%.
She attributes the majority of that change to the pause, which will close the gaps between her paychecks.
NOFFCU will stay in touch with Tina over the next year, monitoring her health and progress. At the end of the pause, they’ll craft a new plan to keep her moving in the right direction.
There’s still work to do to refine the program so it can be expanded responsibly and fairly to help more hurting members like Tina. I’m actively seeking credit unions in Tennessee and across the country to help in this effort.
It will be built not just on numbers, but also on what returned to Tina’s voice and life the day she found out she could afford to heal:
Hope.
A version of this article first appeared in CUinsight.
