A primary example of the positive impact of our Fund is our first loan, made to Cooperative Care, a 35-member worker-owned home care cooperative in rural Wisconsin that has operated successfully for 20 years. Cooperative Care serves a sparsely populated market with a low-income client base (the majority receive Medicaid-sponsored care). In some counties they are the only provider of home-based care for seniors and the disabled on public pay programs.

The Fund for Jobs Worth Owning received an emergency call in 2019 to refinance a line of credit when a local bank under new management unexpectedly canceled the loan that had been in place for a decade. As a major provider of care services to low income seniors, Cooperative Care routinely uses a line of credit to bridge the often 60-90 day period between when they provide a service and when the state pays for the care. Without a line of credit, the co-op’s business was in jeopardy. A flexible term loan from FJWO covered the back balance due and other working capital needs. Technical assistance from the FJWO team helped co-op leaders with business planning to get them back to profitability. With their old loan paid off and a new business strategy in place, the co-op was able to renegotiate a new line of credit with the local bank and regain stable financial footing.

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