When Marlo Thomas needed help, it came with four wheels and an engine.

The 31-year-old Lancaster woman — a single mom to two children — needed a car, but she didn't have the best credit or the highest income.

That's where the Ways to Work program came to the rescue.

Through Ways to Work, participants who might have trouble getting financing through typical bank lending programs can obtain a loan to purchase or maintain a car.

For Thomas, who is a customer service analyst at CoreSource, Ways to Work provided the independence she was looking for.

"The program has helped me tremendously," she said. "Although I'm an independent person, I haven't always made the best financial decisions.

"Because of the Ways to Work program, I have become more independent. I'm learning another level of responsibility. My self-esteem has grown, and my kids are proud of me."

Thomas also credits the program with helping her at a time she needed it most.

"This program allowed me to be a big help to my mother at a very difficult time," she said, adding that her loan for a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix was processed quickly, in about a month.

"As a result, I was able to travel to Philadelphia and assist my mother with the preparation of my grandmother's funeral service."

Ways to Work has been offered to Lancaster residents through Fulton Bank for about six months, said Jeff Bankert, president of the bank's Lancaster division. Fulton Bank is the only bank in Lancaster County offering the program.

"You need transportation in order to have a job," Bankert said. "We thought this program offered services to people who really needed them, and we thought it was a great program to make an investment in."

The national Ways to Work program began more than 20 years ago, said Christina Hall, coordinator of the program for Family Service Association of Bucks County. The Bucks County program has been in existence for seven years and recently began expanding to other areas of the state, including Lancaster.

"We want to offer it in all counties of Pennsylvania over the next year," Hall said, noting that the program receives most of its funding from the Department of Public Welfare, which sets income requirements for participants.

"Income for a family of two cannot exceed $34,240," Hall said. "For a family of four, their income must not exceed $51,818 annually."

Applicants also are required to have a job for at least three months and work at least 20 hours a week.

To take part in the program, participants fill out an application either online at pawaystowork.org or by calling the program's toll-free number.

"If the application is approved, clients can begin looking for a car," Hall said. "We help run a Carfax report and help them find a reputable mechanic who checks out the car before the loan moves forward."

Clients pay for the mechanic's checkup themselves — a cost that typically runs anywhere from $25 to $65, Hall said.

Most participants receive cars that are 8 to 10 years old and receive a loan of up to $6,000 for a car or up to $1,500 for repairs to a vehicle.

"Our clients are people who have poor credit or even no credit," Hall said. "They would have had to go to a predatory lender and end up paying 18 to 40 percent for a car loan. Our program is able to give them a loan at 8 percent, and they pay it back over two years."

Additionally, Ways to Work helps each client purchase a two-year warranty on the vehicle, sharing the expense with the client.

"We require the warranty because it protects the client," Hall said, noting that the cost is rolled into the loan payment.

"Our average loan is $4,000, which works out to a payment of $180 a month," she said.

But the Ways to Work program is about much more than receiving a car loan, she explained. It's about helping clients become financially responsible.

"The whole idea of the program is to help people bring up their credit score," she said. "We work with clients on setting and keeping a budget. We go over their credit report with them. We do everything we can to help them stay financially on track."

That's how Ways to Work differs from other social services, she said.

"Some programs might give people a car, but what happens when that car breaks down? If people haven't learned how to manage their finances, they are going to be in trouble. This program helps people get the foundation they need to handle problems if they come up."

Over the course of the two-year loan, participants connect with Ways to Work on a regular basis, Hall said.

"We pull their credit report after a year to see how they're doing," she said. "We work to help them improve it even more or see where they might still be having some problems.

"We work with our clients throughout the loan period to make sure they don't fall behind on payments."

If clients do run into trouble making payments, Ways to Work will help them find services to assist them.

"We've had clients who've gotten cancer, and they were able to apply for a loan from a women's organization to help make their payments so they could keep their vehicle," Hall said.

Ways to Work has a notable success rate, she said.

"We have about a 6 to 8 percent default rate, which means 92 to 94 percent of our clients are paying back their loans on time and in full," she said.

"These are people who banks would not have dealt with, and now they are paying everything back because they know how important it is."

At the end of the two-year program, many participants have raised their credit scores or income level enough to buy a new car, she said.

"Thanks to the car they received through Ways to Work, they were able to get a better job because they had reliable transportation or they were able to work more hours or sometimes they even took on a second job," she said.

"We see income levels rise in almost all cases."

She said the program has a positive impact on many areas of a participant's life beyond finances as well.

"People look at owning a vehicle as being one of the only ways they can provide for their family, by getting them to a job or helping them take their children to school or other activities," she said.

"For many people who have participated in this program, they look at their vehicle like a lifeline. It has changed their life."

Although the program is just in its infancy in Lancaster County, Bankert said he expects Fulton Bank to serve many clients. Currently, only two families here have participated in the program.

"Multiple people have inquired about the program," he said. "We're excited about its possibilities."

For Thomas, who secured a two-year loan for $4,000 and was able to buy her car for about $3,500, Ways to Work has had a significant impact on her life.

Before buying her car, she got to work by riding with a friend or taking the bus. Now she views her vehicle as a means to greater responsibility.

"This program has meant added independence, confidence and accountability," she said, "in who I was and who I am becoming."