AFGE Member Gets Out of Debt with Union Plus Credit Counseling

Susan Geren, AFSCME Local 3019, credits the Union Plus Credit Counseling Program with giving her financial peace of mind.

Susan Geren didn’t rack up credit card debts with frivolous purchases of designer clothes or last-minute vacations to plush resorts. However, this AFSCME retiree still found herself in financial despair when routine bills and purchases just became too much to handle.

Fortunately for Geren, a member of AFSCME Local 3019, and other union members, the Union Plus Credit Counseling Program can put an end to the overwhelming mental stress and financial insecurity brought on by mounting debt.

“I never thought I would get out of credit card debt,” says Geren of Burlington, IA. “We felt like we were going under and were stressed to the max. Finding out about the credit counseling program really saved us.”

The program provides a free credit counseling session, financial review and budget analysis, advice on how to work with creditors, and a written Action Plan that summarizes the financial situation, provides a budget and timeline for reaching goals, and restates action items.  

A phone call to the program marked an end to the financial anguish that began for Geren two decades earlier when, following a divorce, she began using credit cards to provide for her three young sons. The credit cards allowed the Iowa public employee to buy new school clothes for her children, fill up her gasoline tank and put nutritious meals on the family’s dinner table.

It wasn’t until her four children graduated high school and moved out of the house that Geren confronted a harsh reality: she owed more than $11,000 in credit card debt, and if she continued paying just the minimum amounts due she might never be debt free.

What should have been a happy time in her life instead became a harrowing one. Recently remarried and hoping to retire, Geren, 60 years old, was fraught with anxiety virtually every time she went to the mailbox. Bills consumed her thoughts and worry became a constant companion.

After some online research, Geren’s son suggested that she try the Union Plus Credit Counseling Program because it was free, confidential, and designed especially for union members like Geren. For most Americans, credit can provide financial flexibility and consumer convenience, but today’s economic challenges can lead some workers to sink deep into debt.  That’s where the credit counseling program comes in.

After free phone counseling, Geren opted to go forward with a Debt Management Plan (DMP), which is offered to union members at a 33 percent discount. The DMP allowed MMI, on Geren’s behalf, to negotiate with the credit card companies to come up with a plan to deal efficiently and responsibly with debt that had been accrued over the years.

“It was a great process,” says Geren. “The amount I owe is now taken directly out of my checking account. And instead of owing for life, I’ll be able to pay off all my bills by 2011. I will never find myself in debt ever again. I am so grateful for the Credit Counseling Program.”

These days, Geren is enjoying retirement and contemplating entering the workforce as a part-time employee to earn extra money. If not for the program, Geren believes that she would have had to work full-time for several more years. “I’m very grateful. I wasn’t making any progress paying the minimum amount due.”  

In today’s shaky economic times, many Americans – confronted with unemployment, falling house prices, inflation, or an unstable stock market – are feeling a financial squeeze. Union members who are concerned about their financial situation, should visit UnionPlus.org/CreditCounseling, or call 877-833-1745. The phone center is open 24 hours a day seven days a week.