By Daniel Brokenborough, NILS Client Support worker at Bulli Community Centre
We’ve all been in a situation where we go into a panic over finances. You realise the car is due for registration and the bills are piling up. The washing machine shuts down a quarter of the way through a cycle and starts making a weird beeping noise. Both of the kids’ laptops have stopped working and school starts again next week. How on earth are we going to raise over a thousand dollars for any of this stuff?
That is where the No Interest Loan Scheme comes in!
We offer interest-free loans of up to $1500 for whitegoods, furniture, medical procedures, computers, tablets, car registration and repairs and other items by request. The process is fairly simple and surprisingly fast. You just have to gather supporting documents and do a quick budget interview so we can assess your ability to make the fortnightly repayments. If the loan is approved by our assessors, the money gets transferred directly to the provider of the product or service.
NILS began in 1981 when The Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Victoria saw that financial services weren’t available to people on low incomes. They had been providing social services in Australia since 1863 so through tenacity and a willingness to take a risk they managed to obtain some tentative funding to see if their program would work. Funders doubted that the loans would be paid back, but the sisters’ faith in the goodness of people was vindicated and 40 years later thousands of people have benefited from NILS.
In my time at Northern Illawarra Community Connections (NICCI, the corporate name of the Bulli Community Centre) NILS we have helped save a support dog’s life, get a set of false teeth for a father whose son was getting married, and lay a family member to rest at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Just as importantly, we have helped keep a lot of cars safe and roadworthy when previously these repairs would have been unaffordable. Many of our clients return every year to re-register their car to avoid the stress of raising hundreds of dollars to keep it on the road. The loan term can be from six to 18 months and the repayments can be deducted directly from your Centrelink payment or bank account.
In an environment where high interest Payday loans are ridiculously easy to get and far more difficult to pay off, NILS is there to help you get back on track and climb out of financial hardship.
If you or someone you know might be interested in a NILS loan, we would love to hear from you. Just give us a call on (02) 42831693 or email niccinils@icloud.com.au to ask any questions you might have and to book an appointment.
We are located at the Bulli Community Centre at 328 Princes Hwy Bulli and appointments can be held in a Covid-safe environment at the centre or over the phone.
Contact NILS: 4283 1693 or niccinils@icloud.com.au