Agency Details:

Bonnie CLAC

Bonnie CLAC (Car Loans and Counseling) is a nonprofit organization created to make the ownership of cars more available and more affordable for people of low to moderate income.

Description:
Bonnie CLAC's approach to car ownership is innovative and to date, has not been successfully reproduced in any other part of the country. Bonnie CLAC focuses on getting clients into new vehicles (rather than older cars) and helps people overcome the financial obstacles such as damaged credit, budgeting issues, etc., that prevent them from obtaining an affordable vehicle in the first place. By establishing the first ever indirect lending agreement between a bank and a nonprofit organization in 2001, Bonnie CLAC has been able to guarantee car loans to our clients so that they in turn, are able to purchase affordable vehicles at low-interest rates. Our financial counseling services are designed to build our clients’ financial self-reliance and encourage sustainable economic development for each individual and/or family. As a part of our program, the average Bonnie CLAC client receives or participates in the following services:

• Financial Literacy courses
• Intensive budget counseling
• Temporary transportation program
• Individual vehicle needs assessment
• Car purchase education: fuel mileage, interest rate, depreciation, & maintenance analysis
• Vehicle loan guarantee to credit union or bank
• Negotiation with credit union or bank for wholesale interest rates
• Negotiation with auto dealerships for purchase of vehicle at close-to-invoice cost
• Negotiation with insurance agents

Bonnie CLAC’s program enhances and promotes community development by targeting several obstacles that financially challenged people have historically faced: transportation obstacles, credit issues, and poor financial management skills. As part of the car-purchasing process, Bonnie CLAC teaches our clients to become more financially stable, while also helping them understand and improve their credit records. After graduating from our program, our clients are more empowered to go on to be more productive members of the community. Many former Bonnie CLAC clients are have gone on to obtain better, higher paying jobs as a result of having a reliable car; others have moved on to make their first home purchase — a dream many once thought impossible.

History:
Bonnie CLAC is a nonprofit organization (501c3) started in 2001 by a group of former automobile industry workers who had become frustrated by the high interest rates they saw so many people paying for automobiles. Many car buyers were struggling with tight budgets and/or credit issues and were purchasing older vehicles with high mileage that quickly needed expensive, often unaffordable repairs. Since the organization’s inception over in 2001, Bonnie CLAC has helped close to 1,000 people in the states of NH, VT and ME purchase automobiles.

Contact people:

Lisa Vespa, Program Coordinator, (phone), (email) Mary Burnett, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Rachel Sorlien, Assistant To The President, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (603) 287-4454

Address:

Community Campus, 100 Campus Drive, Suite 1 Portsmouth, NH 03801 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.BonnieCLAC.org

Directions:

From the North Take Rt 16 South to the Portsmouth Traffic Circle. Then, follow the directions from the Portsmouth Traffic Circle (below). From I-95 Take Interstate 95, and exit at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle. Then, follow the directions from the Portsmouth Traffic Circle (below). From the Portsmouth Traffic Circle Exit the Portsmouth Traffic Circle onto Rt 1 South. Go through five sets of lights. At the sixth light, in front of Market Basket, go right onto Peverly Hill Road, then left onto West Road. At the stop sign go right onto Campus Drive. Follow drive into the Community Campus to first parking lot.

Miscellaneous Information

Name of Executive Director (or equivalent) if not listed above:
	Mary Burnett
Type of organization
	Nonprofit 501(c)3
Is your organization a Health and Human Service agency?
	No

Last updated on March 30, 2009