Debt-Free Retirement Now Within Reach for AFSCME Local Leader
When longtime AFSCME member LaVerne Washington retired, she turned to the Union Plus Credit Counseling Program to improve her financial health. She enrolled in a customized debt management plan and will be able to spend retirement debt- and worry-free.
LaVerne Washington, executive board member and steward of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 101 in San Jose, California is on her way to retiring credit card debt free.
Washington has been an AFSCME member for 18 years. As she started planning for retirement from her job as a paralegal, she researched ways to reduce her bills and high interest credit card debt. She remembered that Union Plus Credit Counseling is one of the benefits available to her through AFSCME Advantage.
“As an AFSCME member, you have benefits that others do not,” Washington notes.
She took advantage of a free consumer credit counseling session through Union Plus’s program partner, the non-profit Money Management International (MMI), and then she enrolled in a customized debt management plan.
After 12 months of successful participation in the program, Washington was eligible to receive a $360 Union Plus Debt Management Plan (DMP) grant to reimburse the monthly MMI program fees.
“[Applying for the grant] was actually a very easy process and it turned out to be a great experience,” says Washington. “Within less than a month, I got the check.”
She is a year and a half into her four-year plan to eliminate credit card debt. Then she can spend retirement without worry, enjoying time with friends and family.
“I would definitely recommend this program to other union members,” Washington says. “[Union Plus] recognizes we are working people and they provide us with really great benefits to help out in our everyday living and with our expenses.”
To learn more about the Union Plus benefits and discounts available for union members, visit unionplus.org.