STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — A United Way program that started in Portage County earlier this year is getting more money to continue due to it’s successful outcomes. It’s called In A Fix.
Patti Cahill from United Way of Portage County says it’s a program to help people that need their car to get to work handle those expensive repairs. She says it started with a collaboration involving area car care centers and a regional auto parts distributor located in Stevens Point. “We are getting our NAPA parts at cost through an arrangement with the distribution center and the NAPA stores and these auto centers, and then the auto centers are also discounting the labor for us.”
Cahill says the participants have a co-pay of 10% and the program will pay up to $500 dollars towards a car repair, as long as the recipient meets income guidelines, needs the vehicle for work, and the vehicle is worth more than the cost of repairs.
She says the pilot program has helped several families continue working by keeping the family car running. That’s why United Way is putting more money into the program. “We started the program with $10,000 dollars from the United Way Endowment, and they launched that on February 16th, I think it was. And soon, we used up that first $10,000 dollars, and so we found such great value in the program that the United Way Board of Directors decided to use another $10,000 dollars to keep the program going through the rest of 2015.”
Portage County residents interested in learning about In A Fix can contact Emergency Services at 715-341-6740 or by calling 2-1-1.
In A Fix has processed 37 claims so far in 2015 for a total of nearly $13,000. Through discounts on parts provided by the NAPA Distribution Center and reduced labor charges provided by the participating auto centers, the value of the repairs has been approximately $21,000. The average amount per claim is $347.85.
