• One of the more emotionally impactful clients that our financial coach has worked with was acting as a proxy for a friend of hers. This client came to Marshall looking for advice for a friend that was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Through the course of the friend's illness a large amount of medical debt had accrued. In order to pay the medical bills, the woman had used credit cards to cover some costs, and had relied on friends and family to cover the rest. As she lost her ability to work due to her illness, she also lost the income needed to continue making full payments towards the credit cards. Being very conscious of the fact that she did not want to leave behind unpaid debts, she continued to make partial payments and tried to work with the credit card companies to lower or even eliminate the interest rates. Through working with the credit card companies she revealed that she had been receiving financial help from friends and families. Upon learning this, the companies began attempting to get the people helping her to co-sign on the debt, which would have meant that the debt transferred to them upon her passing. Her friend sought of the assistance of the United Way financial coach because the creditors were relentless in calling, even while she was in the hospital. The client was not looking for a way to escape from her responsibility; she just wanted an escape from the constant phone calls. With my help we were able to eliminate the phone calls so that she could continue paying what she could, and was able to gain some peace in her final days, and some comfort in knowing that her friends would not have to take responsibility for any debts that she might leave behind.

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