Campaign

This past fall we were contacted by an employer that was referring Michael to our Family Economic Support Office (FESO) as part of his last-chance agreement. Michael did not reach out to our Courtney Ziny, FESO Success Coach as expected, so his supervisor physically walked him to our Success Coach and introduced the two. Michael, a single father had weight-loss surgery and hadn’t worked a full week since returning to work – over four months prior to our meeting! He had used FMLA to account for many of those days. Because of the decreased income he had incurred two loans through his financial institution, as well as a payday loan and an online payday installment loan. He admitted that he is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul each week. Michael’s vehicle badly needed new tires and his vehicle insurance was getting ready to be cancelled. On top of all that, he has some underlying mental health issues that his doctor is attempting to address. Courtney and Michael met many times. They would address one or two items each time they met so that his action items were clear and achievable. Michael is now receiving food and utility assistance through Michigan Department Health & Human Services. Courtney was able to enroll him in a utility assistance program that provided monthly assistance for the next year. He made a plan – and executed that plan – to bring his bank account out of the negative. There are many steps for him to take yet, but his entire attitude in the workplace has changed. In Michael’s own words: “I’m kind of glad my attendance reached this point. If I hadn’t been made to meet with you, I’d be out there digging myself into an even bigger financial hole and I probably would have lost my job by now. It’s so great that the company cares about us enough to offer this.”