Amy
-Interview with Amy Heward by Gerry Draper, April 19, 2010
“Worth it!” exclaims Amy when asked to sum up her experience in the New Hope Relational Program. After being in the program for almost a year, Amy is now graduating and ready to forge ahead with her life.
After a divorce, Amy found herself with debts building up. Then a relationship with a person she describes as a con artist brought her more deeply in debt until she finally had to file for bankruptcy. A couple at her church told Amy about Love INC. Before Amy entered the program, she had taken some steps on her own but felt she wanted to learn even more about handling her finances. She needed to buy a car and build up her credit record. She was also paying on student loans. Her goal was to become completely debt-free so that she could buy a house.
While married, Amy had handled the family finances but the family always lived from paycheck to paycheck. Now, she not only meets her bills but has emergency funds on hand. She is much more frugal and finds she doesn’t spend as impulsively. She wants to be sure she has the funds up front before buying a particular item so that she will not be stressed because she can’t pay for it.
Even though Amy has things on a smooth path now, she struggled at times and “went through a slump where I didn’t do so much.” With encouragement and guidance from her counselor, Amy got back on track. She now tells anyone that they will get out of the program what they are willing to put into it. Initially, she also found that it was hard to say no to her friends when they wanted her to do things together and to say no to herself when she wanted to buy things she could not afford at the time.
One area that was difficult for Amy was accepting the weekly food basket and having to go on food stamps for a time after she lost a job. She didn’t want to owe anybody anything. Now she feels that being “mildly accepting of help” is one of her achievements from the program. Because of school and job responsibilities, another challenge was committing to attending the Thursday evening classes, but she hung in there and made that commitment.
Amy’s counselor, who has become her friend, also helped Amy understand her feelings on tithing, something that she rebelled at a little in the beginning. She now realizes the value of tithing and tithes regularly at the church where she worships.
Amy has two teenagers and a pre-teen who have been impressed with the program. She had not expected them to get so much out of it. They no longer see their mother struggling financially. Their response is, “Wow! She has money to do things and she doesn’t worry.” Now Amy is teaching her children to live by the financial principles she has learned.
At present, Amy continues to work as a nurse. Her long-range goal is to become a pharmacist. Meantime, this ambitious young woman is looking forward to taking classes in real estate this summer. If nothing else, she plans to educate herself more for that house she is working toward buying. As Amy says, “Taking responsibility gives you power.” She has proven that she can take responsibility, and now because of the New Hope program, she is looking forward to giving back to others, hopefully passing on what she has learned by becoming a financial counselor herself.
