HOW I MANAGED TO PAY BACK DEBTS OF 200,000 SHEKELS IN 2 YEARS
Nobody at Chani Schwartz's office knows what she has been through in the last few years. This is a new workplace, and Chani, well dressed, smiling and optimistic, does not give anything away. But she has every reason to do so. Until very recently, she and her husband, Eyal, were floundering deeply in debt, but today, they are beginning to see some light. "When I met my husband, five years ago, he had huge debts which had grown from small debts. He was a new immigrant from Argentina, just divorced from his first wife. We wanted to get married, and I did not hesitate to offer to cover his debts." read more


THE BEN-ELIYAHU FAMILY

"I was the champion of checks" Anat Ben-Eliyahu of Tel-Aviv admits. The first meeting with Paamonim lasted 5 hours just so we could track all of the checks we had written and payment plans we had entered into. When we looked at it all, we were in debt for over 100,000 NIS."
Anat (32) is a secretary at a law office, on maternity leave today. Chayim (35) is an auto mechanic. They started the difficult task of cutting back their expenditures. They use cash instead of credit cards or checks and they deliberate as to every shekel that they expend. "Just like recovery from addiction to food or alcohol - I'd call my guide a second before I was going to go "off the wagon" and buy something that wasn't on my lists."
Their older girls are partners to the work of saving. "Watching our finances has actually strengthened the family. The girls understand the situation fully and now qualify their requests to expend funds by saying 'if there's money, then can we have..."
One and one-half years after first meeting with Paamonim, "we paid off loans that we owed to friends. Thank G-d we are no longer in debt to the corner store." We know that a long road still lies ahead, but we have made so much progress.
"The most important thing is the calm that exists in our home today. No stress, no nerves. ... we are walking in the right direction."

Stories from the Jerusalem branch

Family 1: A family we tutored for over two years had a monthly overdraft of NIS6,000 and debts of over NIS200.000.By the end of the tutoring process they were balancing their budget and only NIS25,000 remained of their debts. Though the family still finds it hard to remain in balance, they have certainly undergone a radical change in their behavior. The family presented their story at the closing session of one of the volunteer trainings.

Family II: A family began with a monthly overdraft of NIS 10,000, though they had generous incomes. Their tutor succeeded in obtaining a loan for them on excellent terms. They managed to pay off all their debts and they are left with a big loan on excellent terms bearing a monthly return of only NIS 2,500. Together with the reduction in consumption they took upon themselves, they are in balance "plus", including the return of their loan.

 

Stories from the Raanana -  Kfar Saba branch

Family 1: Family S. reached us with debts to the bank and failure to properly conduct their family budget. Our volunteer showed them how to organize their paperwork, how to record their income and expenditures and how to plan for the future. At first the family could not understand that there were indeed people who were willing to volunteer and invest their time on other peoples' problems. The volunteer established a firm and warm relationship with the family and showed them that they could overcome their problems, giving them hope for a better future.

Family II: Family L. was referred to us by the Social Services Department due to large debts in the grey market. The father of the family, a well-known and admired "Prisoner of Zion" from the Soviet Union, had lost all his faith and hope in our country and in his ability to get out of his difficult economic situation. He was given a team leader as his tutor, and a professional advisor who is currently conducting negotiations with the relevant parties in the grey market in order to try to reduce the debts that the family has to pay back. In parallel, the family is learning to record its income and expenditures and construct its monthly budgets in a realistic manner.

We wish them every success!

Reported from the Haifa branch

A family who had successfully finished its economic recovery program contacted us a few months ago with a cry for help for the grandmother, a woman in her late fifties, who had got into severe economic difficulties. She was to be evicted from her flat within the week!

 

A senior Paamonim manager, together with the local branch manager, went to see what could be done. They met with her and her children and decided on a number of drastic steps that would need to be taken. When she agreed to these steps, including leaving her flat, renting it out and going to live at the home of one of her children, the manager began to take action and succeeded in getting the eviction postponed. In parallel, the family managed to collect a sum of money to partially pay off the debt. The branch manager was assigned to be her economic tutor and he supervised her very closely. She learned how to cut her expenses and make significant changes in her lifestyle. Today she has paid back all her debts and in a number of months will be able go back to living in her own flat. She told us that when she looks at her life six months ago she thinks she is watching a horror film. It just doesn't seem real!

 

To tell you the truth, those of us at Paamonim who were involved in her case, feel that we, too, have been watching a film drama, something larger than life.

 

But we know for sure that it really happened!

Reported from the Carmiel branch

A single mother from the Carmiel branch told her boss at her workplace about the Paamonim Economic Recovery Program that she was taking, how she had to show responsibility for her economic decisions, how she had to record all her expenses and income, how she had to keep her economic documents carefully filed and how she had to plan ahead both for short-term and for long-term expenses. She then took the initiative and dared to ask for a salary rise in order to increase her income versus her expenditure and help her balance her budget.

Amazingly, the boss agreed, because he was so impressed by the change in her attitude to money. In addition, he was able to rely on the fact that she was being closely supervised by her Paamonim tutor!

Now T is in the final stages of her tutoring process.

T, a divorced mother of two grown-up children approached Paamonim because of her difficulties in economic management which manifested itself in disorderly paperwork and failure to understand what was required to manage a family budget. Her budget was chronically unbalanced and her debts were increasing every month. Her volunteer tutor helped her, step by step, beginning with how to look after her paperwork, how to file, exposure of her current situation and her debts with emphasis on independent management in the future.

Now T is in the final stages of her tutoring process. Her budget is in balance and her debts have been rearranged and put in order. She was even prepared to tell her success story at a training session for new volunteers in Paamonim in order to show how valuable the Paamonim tutoring process was for her, saving her from economic disaster.

Feedback from a family at the end of the tutoring process – Jerusalem Branch:

 We found out about Paamonim through an acquaintance who worked in the organization. We did not know what to expect at first, we simply needed help. At the beginning we had frequent contact with our volunteer tutor. Most of the time, we initiated the contacts.

Our tutor helped us to balance our budget. He taught us how to work out our expenses versus our income and how we could adjust the differences. He built up an annual budget with us which allowed us to see the broader picture more clearly. He advised us how to deal with loans that had been taken and how to use a credit card. He succeeded in showing each of us our real situation in such a sensitive way that we did not feel threatened at all, and we just wanted to hear from him what we needed to do to improve things. He always showed a strong motivation and desire to help. He gave us the feeling that we were not alone and that together we would be able to construct a family budget that we could live with.

We did not receive monetary help from Paamonim.

We feel that we understand things better now and that we have been given significant tools and a new attitude towards running the household more efficiently in an economically correct fashion. The most important thing we have learned during the tutoring process is that there is no despair in the world and that it is always possible to learn to improve and advance. We are so grateful for having been tutored at Paamonim. Thank you, and thank you again!

Thank you letter – Haifa Branch:

I would like to thank you for the wonderful help and care I received from your organization. I have to mention the personal attention I got from Devora, my tutor, and from Yossi, the banking advisor, who went to the bank with me today and spent so much of his time to help me.

I was very scared to go to the bank, and after the meeting I already felt calmer. I felt that I wasn't alone. I don't have parents, family or relatives and I have never asked for help before. I was very ashamed of my situation and I never thought that anyone would ever want to help me.

All the time I prayed that things would work out. Then I heard about you. You immediately did everything to help and support me. Now I feel more confident and I feel that you are the family I never had. I also want to thank you for the financial help you gave me - 1,000 shekels, which is a large amount and which helped me so much with my electricity bill.

I want my thanks to reach everyone who helped, and I wish you all only good, just as you make others feel good.

The "O" family from Ramle

The "O" family from Ramle found themselves in economic difficulties due to the collapse of the father's carpentry business. As a result, the father was unemployed for about six months and the family accumulated heavy debts.

The family began an economic rehabilitation program with Paamonim. The father found employment and began to get a comfortable salary. The family achieved economic balance and managed to effectively control their expenditure and income. However, due to the collapse of the business they were left with massive debts which threatened their peace and affected their ability to cope.

They had accumulated debts of about NIS 160,000 arising from unpaid rates, delays in mortgage payments, unpaid rent and other items, to eviction officers and to 20 other creditors. The family also faced detention orders from the court implementation officers.

The situation required immediate disposal of the massive debts through entering into negotiations with the various creditors.

Within the framework of Paamonim's economic rehabilitation program the family was referred to a professional lawyer associated with Paamonim. The lawyer estimated that he could close all the debts to the various creditors to the sum of NIS 100,000, that is, to reduce the sum of NIS 60,000 from the total debt.

On the basis of the lawyer's recommendation, the family was given an interest-free loan from Paamonim's Loan Fund which the family committed to pay back monthly at a fixed rate which it could undertake to pay.

During the year, the lawyer disposed of all the family's debts amounting to less than NIS 100,000.

Today the family has no more debts to threaten its normal activities.

Family "D" from Kiryat Shemona

Family "D" from Kiryat Shemona got into economic difficulties. Due to the failure of its business they accumulated many debts, and faced court implementation orders for NIS 100,000. The father of the family, who was a policeman at the time, faced a detention order, and this was extremely distressing for him. Due to the intervention of Paamonim, the family was referred for immediate legal help from a lawyer associated with Paamonim. The lawyer succeeded in rescinding the detention order and began bankruptcy procedures. The bankruptcy procedures lasted about two years and the lawyer succeeded in reaching an agreement with all the family's creditors to dispose of the debts, leaving the total sum of NIS 50,000. The debts were paid through a loan given to the family by Paamonim. The family committed to return the loan to Paamonim through fixed monthly payments, suited to its ability to pay.

Today, the family is firmly on the road of economic independence and responsibility and fully intends to remain there.

 

THE MORDECHAI FAMILY

Name: Yaakov & Anat Mordechai
City: Herzliya
Number of children: 4
His occupation: HVAC professional
Her occupation: housekeeper
Our family and Paamonim: The turning point was when we connected. We were guided and directed. In the end, we did not require any financial assistance. Most importantly, there is someone to advise us and guide us. As part of the Economic Recovery process, we completely changed our employment situation, as well as the household income-expense balance picture. Today we maintain the balance, after several years of severe distress. In addition, when one negotiates with a creditor, and in our situation it was with the Israel Tax Authority, having a document that states one is guided by Paamonim changes the creditor's attitude for the better.

Name: Adi & Ayala Yechi
Number of children: 4
City: Rishon Letzion
His occupation: photographer pre-offset printing
Her occupation: preschool teacher
Our family and Paamonim: We approached Paamonim one year ago due to a financial crisis, and a volunteer guide was sent to our home. We can skip the description of the whole process and get right to the conclusion. Through our work with Paamonim's volunteer financial guide within less than one year, we were able to reach a budgetary balance and maintain it as well as to pay off our debts totaling almost 50,000 NIS. Today we have no knowledge of creditors and we are building our lives slowly and gradually, with the ongoing help of Paamonim's guidance. We do not have the words needed to thank them.

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