The Loan That Keeps on Giving
“More than the actual financial burden, it’s the mental burden,” Leah remarked about debt accrual. “Going to sleep with debt and waking to another email from my credit card or another letter is mentally taxing beyond anything I could ever imagine.”
During the pandemic, Leah found herself carrying more than $20,000 in debt and carrying most of the worry alone. “I felt like I was drowning, but I wasn’t quite drowning,” she recalled. “So maybe I need to work harder and struggle a little more.”
And then, her friend Dean began asking questions.
Their conversation eventually led Leah to HFL and a $7,000 interest-free loan that helped her regain a sense of control over her finances. Dean went above giving her a recommendation, and volunteered to guarantee the loan.
His offer carried its own history. Dean had previously received an HFL loan himself. Years later, when Leah needed support, he was ready to help another borrower access the same resource.
“The kindness and the impact of Hebrew Free Loan Society continues to roll and impact more and more people,” Leah reflected. “As a previous loan receiver himself, he was happy to pay it forward.”
With HFL’s model, an interest-free loan doesn’t always end when it’s repaid. There are times when it continues through the next borrower, the next guarantor, and eventually, the next act of generosity.
And Leah knows that firsthand.
How the debt accumulated
Some of Leah’s debt came from caring for her beloved pet, whose treatments for a severe illness required costly veterinary care. Credit card offers initially provided some relief, but as interest rates climbed and credit limits dropped, they soon became part of the problem.
“It was kind of like a snowball,” she said.
Leah had immigrated to the U.S. from Israel in her twenties and wasn’t comfortable discussing her financial situation with family or friends. Asking someone for financial help felt even more difficult.
Dean, however, kept asking questions about how she was managing until Leah finally revealed the burden she had been carrying. He suggested that she look into HFL.
At first, Leah dismissed the idea. The application required a guarantor, and she couldn’t imagine asking anyone to take on such a responsibility.
Dean had something else in mind: “You’re silly. I told you about it so I could sign for you,” he told her. Leah was stunned. “I was like, ‘What? That’s insane,’” she recalled.
Dean knew firsthand what an HFL loan could make possible: a sense of control.
With Dean’s guarantee, Leah received a $7,000 interest-free loan, covering roughly one-third of her debt. The financial relief mattered, but so did the feeling that came with it. “I was suddenly not alone in that,” Leah shared.
For the first time in months, she could see a way forward. “Once I was seeing sort of a way out of it, that’s when I realized how hard it was actually, in retrospect.”
Leah repaid every installment on time. Since then, her pet has recovered, she has purchased a home, and she is beginning a job she has dreamt about for years.
Continuing the cycle
Leah repaid her loan years ago, but the generosity behind it continues to shape how she thinks about helping others.
She has since recommended HFL to others. And if someone she trusted needed a guarantor, Leah says she would feel much more comfortable stepping into the role Dean once filled for her.
“I would definitely feel a lot more comfortable offering to be someone’s guarantor,” she said.
She also understands the responsibility involved. “Dean must have known that he was taking a risk,” Leah reflected. “I felt responsible for his risk. I immensely appreciate what he did.”
When asked where she would donate if she had the means, HFL immediately came to mind. “It was such a personal experience,” she said.
Leah remembers feeling ashamed of her financial circumstances when she first sought help. The experience she ultimately had with HFL was very different from what she expected.
“Something I was certainly not proud of and was struggling with became a pleasant experience,” she reflected. “That was so unexpected.”
One borrower became a guarantor for another. Now, Leah hopes to continue the cycle.