Conclusion

At the start of each of our community sessions, residents gave a few reasons why they were interested in helping design better small dollar loans. All of them felt impacted by their experiences accessing loans. Some had more positive experiences than others, but regardless of whether accessing a loan helped or hurt them, they saw the need for better financial resources in their communities. They said that the cost of living was getting harder to afford, that financial literacy isn’t taught well in schools, and that people old and young were struggling to pay off bills. Gaps in information and access to safe alternative lending products prevented many residents from getting the resources they want and need to create financial stability for themselves and their families. These 32 residents spent their evening codesigning loans and solutions in the hope that policymakers and lenders will take their advice and create or amend programs and products to serve people like them. Additional testing with hundreds or thousands of clients would be an ideal next step to explore the potential impact of these concepts. With more affordable, timely, and flexible options; better financial education systems; and more inclusive loans geared toward credit building, socially conscious lenders can offer better options that serve Chicago residents and people all over the country, ultimately creating opportunities for residents to thrive.

“With the times that we are in, life is a whirlwind. When everything shut down [due to the pandemic], I feel like people need more options. Now that things are settling down, I think it’s something we need to talk about.” —Raymond, 52, Woodlawn