More Than Wheels

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When Marirose Walker first learned about More Than Wheels several years ago, it was from a community bulletin board posting of a simple tear-sheet flyer. She took the phone number and made that first phone call to see what the program was all about.  Even though she had a used car at the time, Marirose needed something more reliable—a car she didn’t have to keep wasting her money on for repairs.             

“If it weren’t for More Than Wheels I probably would not have a vehicle right now,” Marirose said.  The upkeep and repair expenses for that old used car would eventually have made it unaffordable.

For Marirose, as it is for so many clients, coming to More Than Wheels was more than just about getting a better vehicle—it was also about managing and improving her credit. Although she had previously resolved some past credit problems, now she wanted to take the Financial Fitness classes in order to meet the requirements for an Individual Development Account (IDA) through the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.

Because Marirose has a chronic disability, she qualified for an IDA designed specifically for people with disabilities.  As a single mother with two children, she wanted to use the IDA funds to establish and grow her home-based holistic care enterprise into a thriving and self-sustaining business.  Enrolling in the More Than Wheels program and graduating from the financial fitness classes enabled Marirose to take advantage of the IDA matching funds to fund the opening of her business. “The money from my IDA account bought this furniture, my homeopathic products and several other things,” Marirose explained.

As a Holistic Care Specialist, Marirose specializes in a variety of fields with a strong concentration in herbal and homeopathic remedies. Clients either come to her office located in her home, or she travels to them—something she wouldn’t be able to do without a reliable vehicle. “I use my car a lot so that people don’t have to leave their house when they’re sick, and their children don’t have to leave, and I can bring the products straight to them,” says Marirose. She loves her work and loves being able to work from home where she can take breaks in-between clients to rest. Thanks to her reliable vehicle, she can easily go to the grocery store or her doctor’s no matter where she lives.

“It’s really indispensible,” Marirose said, referring to her car. “I couldn’t walk to the supermarket from where I live—even to get just one bag of groceries I’d end up in bed with pain for a few days afterwards. More Than Wheels is really more than wheels—it’s given me so much. It’s given me a chance to have my health and balance. It’s given me a chance to have a source of income that I feel proud and happy with. It sounds trite, but it’s given me my life.”