Moana’s* nine-year old daughter, Tina*, had hearing difficulties so had a teaching aide to assist her at school. An unfortunate negative effect of this assistance was that it undermined Tina’s confidence and reduced her desire to become more independent. To qualify for subsidised hearing equipment that would improve Tina’s independence, a hearing assessment was suggested – but the cost of the assessment was beyond Moana’s means.
Luckily, Moana’s was already working with a financial mentor, who helped her apply for an interest-free loan from Ngā Tāngata Microfinance. The application was complex because Moana is engaged with multiple support organisations – she receives help from the school, as well as from Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) and her whānau. Her SWiS social worker had applied to a Trust for assistance with this matter, but hadn’t heard back in time for the final hearing assessment payment.
When Ngā Tāngata Microfinance was certain that Moana was accessing all the state-funded support that was available to her, a GetAhead Asset Building loan was approved to pay for the cost of the hearing assessment. Moana says that having an interest-free loan that she can pay off in small, manageable payments has been really “empowering” and has already made a huge difference to her daughter’s life.
*Note: all names including those of the loan companies have been changed. Any re-publishing of these case studies need the permission of Ngā Tāngata Microfinance Ltd.