For your communityFREE DEBT HELP

www.capaust.org

FINANCIAL

FREEDOM

AHEAD

Australia’s Premier Debt Counselling Charity

WELCOMEWelcome to the service of Christians Against Poverty (CAP). We are delighted to have a CAP Centre in your area to offer our award winning service to people in need in your community.

The service provided by CAP is one of the most in-depth and holistic debt services available in Australia. We offer top quality debt management to those on the lowest incomes in society, completely free of charge. Our service is available to all members of society regardless of belief, race, and sexual orientation.

As you read this brochure, we hope that you will be inspired that the people you are supporting can find a solution to their debt problems that will transform their lives.

Ross ButtenshawNational DirectorChristians Against Poverty

CONTENTS

6. FAQ

1. WHO DO WE HELP?

2. HOW DO WE HELP?

4. ROBYN & JAMES’ STORY

5. ANDREW & KAYE’S STORY

3. WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

“Lake Macquarie City Council and Christians Against

Poverty have been successfully working together for

over six years to enable customers to receive help,

advice and support both f inancially and emotionally.”

Paul Scarfe

Former Lake Macquarie Counsellor

WHO ARE WE?Christians Against Poverty is a national debt management charity that offers a face-to-face, comprehensive solution to those struggling under the burden of debt. Through our unique combination of budgeting advice, creditor liaison, provision of a CAP Account and personal support, we empower people to work themselves out of debt and transform their finances. We operate through a growing network of local centres that are opened in partnership with local churches.

We currently help, on average, 80 new families every month as well as supporting approximately 1000 existing clients.

We are currently handling over $20 million of secondary debts on behalf of our clients.

CAP has been recognised for excellence by winning numerous charity awards and, most recently, Australian Business Awards, Small Business Champion Award and Finalist for Charity of the Year.

WHO DO WE HELP?

Christians Against Poverty is uniquely placed to particularly help low income, financially and socially disadvantaged people out of debt.

The profile of our clients:• Average household income is $35,273 per year• 25% of our clients are single parents• 31% live solely on benefits• 12% are disabled • 9% are from ethnic minorities

Debt causes so many problems in society. These include fear, stress, illness and missing meals, through to relationship and family breakdown and even suicide.

Before we helped our clients:• 88% suffered from anxiety and stress due to debt• 68% suffered depression• 67% missed meals with 22% doing so regularly• 32% seriously considered or attempted suicide• 52% visited a GP as a result of debt with 72% of those being prescribed

medication• 40% of clients said debt had led to relationship breakdown

GLORIA

MARIEWhen my marriage fell apart, I sank further and further into debt. I was left feeling destitute and hopeless. I couldn’t see a way out.

A social worker overheard me crying when I went to Centrelink for help. She asked me if I’d been to CAP for help and

Following a stroke, Gloria was left wheel chair bound and feeling hopeless. Gloria’s immobility left her unable to work and medical expenses quickly became overwhelming, forcing Gloria to turn to her credit cards.

“I used to get credit calls every day of the

gave me the CAP helpline number.

CAP visited me after I made the initial call. They showed me how to organise my bills and helped me put a budget together. All of the harassing calls from creditors were redirected to CAP; having this pressure taken off me, allowed me to start feeling in control of my life again.

I’m so excited about the future! I honestly believe CAP saved my life and has opened up a world of possibilities for me and my children!

week... I would just cry because you couldn’t get them to stop and understand.”

Gloria was seeing a counsellor for depression and came across a brochure for CAP.

“I got home and rang.... they talked me through what they do, how it works and what I would have to do.”

An appointment was booked for Gloria where a budget was created and she received instant relief as her credit cards were cut up and CAP started the process of negotiating with Gloria’s creditors.

“CAP were able to get two of the credit cards wiped and when I got that information that was just WOW!”

Through following the CAP system, Gloria has been able to pay off most her debts and will be debt free within 18 months!

HOW DO WE HELP?

1

2

FACE TO FACE

EASY PAYMENTS“THE CAP ACCOUNT”

After calling CAP, each client is visited in their own home by a CAP Debt Coach to collate their financial information. This is then sent to CAP’s Operations Centre in Newcastle to work out a realistic budget that prioritises essential bills.The local CAP Debt Coach then visits the client again to explain their budget and the payments they need to make. A Support Coach from the local CAP Centre will accompany the CAP Debt Coach to provide ongoing emotional support throughout the process.

A CAP Account, to manage their payments, is set up for each client. We negotiate affordable repayments with each creditor and try to stop unfair interest and charges. The client makes regular payments into their CAP Account to cover their debt payments, which we then distribute on their behalf. This facility means that clients are able to stick to their budgets as their finances are simplified and obstacles to physically paying their debts are removed.

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5

SAVINGS

INSOLVENCY OPTIONS

LONG-TERM HELP

THE SUCCESS OF THE CAP SERVICE

A savings facility is built into each CAP Account. Savings are vital to ensure that the cycle of debt is broken as this allows clients to save for unforeseen events (such as a washing machine breaking down) or to plan for events such as Christmas.

If a client is in severe debt then we can walk them through insolvency options (such as bankruptcy) by assisting them to fill out forms and providing information on bankruptcy related issues.

Once the initial crisis has been dealt with, clients are given telephone support for the long haul by a special team at CAP’s Operations Centre. Clients continue to make payments into their CAP Account until they are debt free.

Our existing clients pay 94% of their bills and debts on time.*

92% of our clients said our help was ‘life transforming’ or ‘a great help.’

*based on results from Dec 2010

WHAT OUR CLIENTSSAY

When asked about our service, 96% of our clients said CAP was friendly and professional and 93% said that the service was non-judgemental.

ONE THING THAT CHANGED IS NO MORE PHONE CALLS, NO MORE STRESS. I TRUST YOU WILL HELP ME IN ANYTHING I NEED. I KNOW I CAN COUNT ON CAP ALWAYS. I DON’T NEED TO FEEL HELPLESS ANYMORE. YOU ARE ALL A GREAT HELP.

I TELL EVERYONE ABOUT CAP. I’M SO GRATEFUL THAT YOU HELPED ME IN MY TIME OF NEED. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I THINK YOU NEED TO ADVERTISE ON A BIGGER SCALE. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA THAT NEED THIS

SERVICE. WELL DONE!

I’VE HAD A WEIGHT LIFTED OFF MY MIND AND MY LIFE IS SO MUCH EASIER THANKS TO CAP. I FEEL I CAN LIVE AGAIN.

OUR LIVES HAVE COMPLETELY CHANGED. I NO LONGER STRESS ABOUT ANYTHING, ESPECIALLY MONEY. I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE HELP THEY

HAVE GIVEN ME.

OUR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGED DRAMATICALLY WITH THE HELP OF CAP! WE WENT FROM $40,000 WORTH OF (UNSECURED) DEBT

TO BECOMING DEBT FREE!

THE HOUSING COMMISSION RECOMMENDED CAP AND IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. I’M NOW BACK ON TRACK AND COPE WITH THINGS BETTER.

THEIR NON-JUDGEMENTAL, CLEAR WAY OF DOING THINGS HAS CHANGED OUR’S AND OUR CHILDREN’S LIVES FOREVER AND WE NOW KNOW WE HAVE GOD IN OUR LIVES. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS.

ROBYN & JAMESFollowing an unexpected debt which forced them out of home, Robyn and her young son James were left living in a car for over a year.

James shared with us recently about this time in their lives.

“I was worried, stressed as well;I worried about my Mum mostly.”

A nine year old should never know words like ‘stressed’ and shouldn’t know what it is, at the age of six, to be worried about his Mother, who shared,

“I broke down bit by bit and I ended up in a medically induced coma for a month

due to the stress of everything.”

Thankfully, Robyn and James’ story doesn’t end there, Robyn made a brave decision to admit she needed help and phoned CAP!

“From the very first meeting with my CAP case worker, she gave me a feeling of hope, and I was able to see clearly ahead to our future, for the first time in many years. Since working with CAP, my health is a lot better without the stress of not knowing what bills are going to be paid and there is money put away for a future and not having to worry about those things. I can wake up the next day and look forward to that day, knowing that I can get through it.”

When asked about how life has changed since working with CAP, James said

“If it wasn’t for CAP, things wouldn’t be great at all…My Mum is very happy.”

ANDREW& KAYEAfter having hours drastically reduced at work and with debts piling up, Andrew searched desperately online.

The couple reached out to CAP and a CAP Debt Coach into their home. Our Debt Coach shared,

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who looked so beaten, I can’t think of another word, they were just so down”.

Andrew elaborated just how down they were: “You sort of hoped for a terminal disease... It’s like there was just no way out, we were just trapped and alone”. Thankfully, this was not the end of their story; CAP approached their situation with love and support, re-assuring Andrew and Kaye that they were not alone. We gave them a plan and, over the following months, helped them implement it. Kaye shared, “We felt love from the first contact we made with CAP, it was the feeling that we’re going to be helped here, these people are going to help us”.

Andrew added, “From the time we signed the papers and my first pay went in, it was just an instant relief. I like the fact that CAP didn’t take all our wages and then say, ‘you’ve been a good boy this week here’s 50 bucks’, we still have the responsibility of managing our ongoing accounts so when we’re debt free we’ll know how to manage our money.”

“We’ve been with CAP almost a year and we’ve paid off 4 major debts, we’ve managed to save, we’ve

managed to go out, we’ve managed to go shopping”.

Andrew and Kaye are closely following their CAP program and are well on their way to being debt free!

“It’s not just becoming debt free, it’s so much more, CAP didn’t just give us back our life, they gave us a life! A life

that we never even had before we were in debt!”

FAQ ???

??How does your Christian ethos affect your service?

As a Christian organisation, our faith is our motivation and we have a strong Christian ethos, so our Debt Coaches may offer prayer and discuss issues of faith with clients if they are interested. However, their response in no way affects the service offered. We ensure no one receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, nationality, religion, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation or disability. We work hard to make it known through our publicity that we help anyone regardless of beliefs or any other factor, and over 90% of our clients are not Christians.

Is there a charge for your service?

No, it is completely free. We give clients the opportunity to give donations to the charity so that we can help more families. However, this is completely voluntary and clients who choose not to make a donation are offered exactly the same service.

There are a lot of companies like you. What makes you different or better?There are a number of organisations out there that help people get out of debt and it can be confusing because while they sound the same, none do what CAP does. Here are the differences:

• All of our services are free. From our initial consultation right through to budgets or insolvency.

• Our appointments are conducted with the client in their home ensuring the clients’ dignity is upheld. We also find that most of the documents we need are more likely to be accessed in their home.

• By partnering with a local Church we are often able to give “one-off” help with urgent grocery or appliance needs.

• We support the client from start to debt free. We know that it is not easy to walk the journey out of debt so a support coach will be there for the client “on

?“Mission Australia sees the devastation in lives caused by poor financial planning skills and the pressure on families from easily accessible debt. We work to relieve this directly and work with many other organisations in the same field to help people overcome these issues. One of the organisations we think is excellent in this field is Christians Against Poverty. They have shown time and again how much difference a small amount of help can make to individuals and families in the face of large debts and no way out, that there is hope and a way out. They are a great organisation worthy of support across the Australian Community.”

Toby Hall, CEO, Mission Australia

WHAT DO OTHERS SAY ABOUT US?

the ground” and each client has a case worker working with them and their creditors.

• We negotiate with creditors on the clients behalf until the debt is paid out. For clients who need insolvency solutions we have a dedicated team who will work with them from start to finish.

• We don’t give a “handout” but a hand up. We offer a course free of charge to teach clients how to manage their money or better manage their money.

www.capaust.orgABN: 92 104 471 516 Australian Credit Licence: 426594 National Operations Centre: PO Box 298 Hunter Region MC NSW 2310 AustraliaPh: (02) 4914 0500 Fax: (02) 4914 0501 Email: admin@capaust.org

Disclaimer: We always do our best to ensure the information we provide in our publications is as up to date as possible. Although the information in this publication was correct at the time of printing we can not be held responsible for changes or developments since this edition was issued. The views and opinions in this document represent those of Christians Against Poverty. © Christians Against Poverty 2009. The material in this pack constitutes our original work. The Copyright is with Christians Against Poverty. You may not alter or copy/reproduce this pack in any format without the prior written consent of Christians Against Poverty.

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