Safe at home: Teamwork transforms family's life

James Robinette

James Robinette of Clintwood, Va. will tell you: The little things in life – like being able to shower in your own home – can loom large.

“I was having to come up to the hospital to take showers,” says James, a double amputee, referring to the substandard home he and his family recently vacated.

Fortunately, the Robinettes are now in a modest but livable home, but that move almost didn’t happen. The story of James, Lisa and their son William and how close they came to not getting into their home, shows how tenuous life can be in Central Appalachia even with supportive services in place. (So does this article from the Business Journal of the Greater Tri-Cities detailing a King University study of Southwest Virginia’s economy and the rise in non-wage “transfer payments.”)

A King University study details the growing
reliance on "transfer payments" in the economy
of Southwest Virginia.

The Robinettes’ experience also reveals the important role Community Development Financial Institutions like Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union (ACFCU) can play in preventing families like the Robinettes from slipping through the cracks – and how financial coaching can lay the groundwork for long-term financial health.

The Robinettes were days away from closing on their home thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program. In June, though, the family learned they needed more than $1,000 to pay a year of homeowners’ insurance up front. They didn’t have the money.

“I was like, everything we’ve done since February when we started looking at the new house is in danger of just being flushed down the drain,” James says.

 James worked for years but is on disability due to complications from diabetes. Lisa is deaf. William, 19, works full time in a long-term care facility. The Robinettes’ income was limited and their credit was poor, but the USDA program was able to help. Then the insurance conundrum reared its head.

“We checked online at first with what I call ‘loan shark places.’ Everywhere we looked we were denied totally.”

Adam Taylor
ACFCU Financial Coaching Specialist

Those denials were a blessing in disguise. “I said, ‘let’s go to ACFCU,’” James says. ‘The worst they can do right now is tell us no. Everybody else is telling us no.’”

The folks at ACFCU’s Norton, Va. branch didn’t say no. They told James he and Lisa would need to meet with a financial counselor. Recognizing that short-term fixes don’t get at the root of people’s financial issues, the credit union places financial health and financial coaching at the center of much of its work with families in Appalachia. “I agreed to it,” James says. “I’m like, ‘of course. I’ll do anything at this point.’”

By the end of an initial meeting with Adam Taylor, an ACFCU Financial Coaching Specialist, things were looking up. Adam got real with the couple about finances and James, who says he’s always had a little trouble with money, realized they could do more than just make ends meet if they followed a plan. “It’s very doable,” James says. “We’ve already sat down and started getting the bills for next month, I’ve prepared for unexpected expenses, and we’ve budgeted to start saving.”

Adam also worked with Matthew Potter of ACFCU’s partner insurance agency, who found the Robinettes a good policy for less than $500. They secured a loan for the money with their truck and agreed to maintain a coaching relationship with Adam. Instead of a predatory loan or no new house at all, the family has a foundation for a solid future.

“Adam and Matthew were miracle workers for us, because we had turned to everybody and everybody had said no,” James says.

Even had the “loan sharks” said yes, he adds, “they would have said, ‘here’s $1,000, 100 percent interest.’”

It’s early days for the Robinettes. The trio, who are very active in walks and other fundraising activities to support the broader amputee community, isn’t asking for extravagance. They simply want to enjoy the activities that bring them joy – Lisa’s sewing, crafting and gardening, James’s painting of war gaming miniatures, William’s growing interest in a health care career. Their new home makes those things possible.

William, Lisa and James Robinette.

“It’s an older house, but it’s a beautiful, nice little country house,” James says. “It gives Lisa a sewing area, it gives me a man cave and William an apartment.”

That motivates James to take the long, slow steps toward financial health. “Every time I had a doctor’s appointment we would go someplace to eat. If we just drive up here to Norton, there’s no reason to go out to eat, and you could take that $15 you spend at Taco Bell and buy enough food supplies for three or four meals at the store.

“If we do it like (Adam) said, we’re going to have this much left that we can throw into savings by about the middle or towards the end of the month.”

ACFCU’s purpose is “Building Financial Relationships One Member at a Time.” In Central Appalachia, that can be an intensive, all-hands-on-deck journey. When a journey is rooted in the belief of every human’s dignity and potential, though, what cost is too great?

(Jeff Keeling is vice president of communications and community relations for Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union.)