Important Changes to Our Financial Loans

Due to delays in funding, PATF is temporarily making changes to our loan terms. Beginning November 8, 2025, all loans up to $2,000 will be eligible for 0% interest with no fees. Loans over $2,000 will be processed as Low-Interest Loans with our lending partners and will be offered at an interest rate of 3.75% with no fees. PATF anticipates that these changes will be temporary, and we will be sure to note when these temporary loan term changes have ended. Please note that our publications posted to our website as .pdfs have not been updated, as we expect this change to be temporary.

PATF’s Low-Interest Loans have made assistive technology available at affordable rates for over two decades, and we are grateful to our partners for making it possible to continue to make affordable financing available as we navigate the current funding landscape. Due to this support, financing at affordable rates will remain available to all eligible borrowers in need of assistive technology costing between $100 and $60,000.

Thank you, and please feel free to reach out with any questions.

Conversations with CEO, Will Hall

Will Hall is a white man with dark brown hair. He is wearing a collared shirt with a tie.

Mary Kate is a white woman with brown hair. She is wearing a white and black shirt.

Will: Mary Kate, you are running your first half marathon this month, which is really exciting. Tell us about how you are connecting that to the work of PATF.

Mary Kate: I believe it is critical that everyone has access to recreation and leisure activities that are meaningful to them. When I was younger, I ran track and field from 6th grade until the end of my junior year of high school, so running is something that has always been meaningful to me. Participating in these activities should be accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities and health conditions. There are so many benefits, including physical and mental. I wanted to bring awareness to different adaptive recreation opportunities throughout Pennsylvania and make it more accessible for people to engage in activities they enjoy and bring awareness to different funding options that are available.

Will: You also have a personal connection that is part of your journey, right?

Mary Kate: That is right! My dad was officially diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2023. He has always been active. He really loved playing tennis. When I was younger, we lived behind a high school that had tennis courts. He would always bring me with him to play, and those are really special memories. As his Parkinson’s symptoms progressed, he found pickle ball and ping pong more enjoyable. He also takes walks and participates in Parkinson’s-related programs. With a background in recreational therapy and through my work at PATF, I have been making suggestions for adaptions he can make and assistive technology that may be helpful to him, so that he is still able to participate in meaningful activities.

Will: What has training been like?

Mary Kate: Training has been great! There are some days when I quite frankly have low motivation, but I push through because I know I have to, and after my run, I feel so much better.

Will: A few years ago, I ran a handful of marathons and half marathons. I remember having weeks during training when my long runs were really great and triumphant, but the short runs seemed more difficult, which is counterintuitive. Have you experienced anything like that?

Mary Kate: Yes, this just happened to me a couple weeks ago. I have been working through some knee pain, and I was finally feeling confident enough to do a long run again. I ran six miles and felt so energized and great during and after my run – I felt like I could’ve kept going. My next run was a recovery run, so I ran three miles. I was looking at my watch the entire time because I couldn’t wait for the run to be over!

Will: What do you think the psychology is behind that?

Mary Kate: I think there are many psychological reasons behind it. For starters, I think I mentally prepare myself more for longer runs, whereas with shorter runs, I believe I don’t need as much mental preparation, even though I do, because if I can run six or more miles, I can run three miles. Also, because I am trying to increase my mileage, it feels like I should be increasing miles with each run. But I know these shorter recovery runs are important with the overall goal of getting to 13.1 miles! Your body needs time to rest and recover.

Will: When I think about the temporary changes PATF is having to make to its loan terms, it feels a little like that. No one wants to confront these sorts of funding challenges, but I think the mindset needs to be "just get through this time that feels really difficult so that we can reach our ultimate goal." Our goal is of course making affordable assistive technology financing available to as many people as possible, for you it's completing this really impressive goal of running a half marathon.

Mary Kate: I think in both situations, short-term solutions are important for long-term longevity and success.

Will: Well, thank you for making the work a part of your journey and thanks for sharing your personal connection with us.

Mary Kate: Of course!

Making a Difference with PATF’s Low-Interest Loans

Bob is an older white man. He is wearing a yellow shirt and is holding his hand up to the hearing aid in his ear.

Prior to January 2021, our Mini-Loan program ranged from $100 to $2,000 and had 0% interest with no fees and amounts over $2,000 were part of our Low-Interest Loan program. Meet Bob, who utilized PATF’s Low-Interest Loan back in 2019 to purchase hearing aids.

Bob has an impressive 45-year teaching career, being a history teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal for both junior and senior high, elementary principal, middle and high school principal, social studies supervisor, and administrative assistant to the superintendent.

Throughout his career, he noticed significant hearing loss, and his children convinced him to get hearing support. With his hearing aids costing $3,200, he began looking at financing options. After reviewing options with his audiologist, he could either put the charge on his credit card with an interest rate of 19.5%, or he could apply for a loan with PATF with a fixed interest rate of 3.75% with no fees.

The two important factors he considered when making his decision were a low interest rate and lack of fees, so he decided to apply for a loan with PATF. He was approved and noted that his quality of life has greatly improved.

Please Join Us in Welcoming Our New Staff Member

Bethany is a white woman with curled red hair. She is wearing a black shirt.

PATF welcomed Bethany Flaugher to the team in September as our Program Director. Her main duties include providing information and resources for assistive technology funding and overseeing the Information and Assistance team.

She brings her experience in supported employment, career readiness training for special education high school students, and resource navigation for people with disabilities to PATF, and we are so happy she joined us.

Learn more about Bethany.

PATF in the Community

The Places We Have Been

Pennsylvania Walk4Hearing - Hearing Loss Association of America held their PA Walk4Hearing event on October 19th at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The event raises awareness and funds for hearing health and empowers those with hearing loss. We provided dozens of people with valuable information about the different funding options we offer for assistive technology, such as devices for hearing loss.

There are children at an activity table playing. They are wearing red shirts.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren offers information and support to grandparents and other family caregivers. They held their 19th Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Annual Conference on October 24th in Luzerne County. They had snacks and hot lunches available, as well as resource tables. We were grateful to be able to share our resources with the community.

Lincoln Intermediate Deaf and Hard of Hearing Career Day - Lincoln Intermediate Unit held a career day for students grades 7 through 12 who are in the LIO Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Students had the opportunity to hear from four Deaf and Hard of Hearing professionals, who discussed their career path and how they got there. We had the privilege to speak with attendees during breaks about assistive technology funding options.

Phoenixville Transition Fair - The Phoenixville Transition Fair was a night filled with information and resources for families with students who have IEPs. Topics of discussion included adult services, supported college programs, supports coordination, and financial planning. We appreciated the opportunity to speak with families about our financial loans and financial education materials.

Upcoming Events

Pennsylvania Association for the Blind Fall Conference - We will be attending the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind 2025 Fall Conference. The conference will feature programming for agency executives, field workers, and prevention specialists. We are looking forward to learning valuable information so that we can better serve people with vision loss.

PaTTAN East and Central Resource Expos for Students with Hearing Loss - We will be attending the PaTTAN Technology Adventure for Students with Hearing and Vision Needs Expo in both PaTTAN East and Central. These expos are an opportunity for students, families, and educators of children with vision or hearing loss to learn more about assistive technology (AT). They will have hands-on AT demonstrations and meet professionals from different agencies who can share valuable information on AT and funding options.

Temple Resources for Blind and Low Vision - TechOWL is celebrating Assistive Technology Awareness Month by hosting two presentations on low vision and blind technology. The first presentation, “What’s New in Low Vision and Blind Technology?,” will be held on November 17th from 9AM – 12PM at the TechOWL Community Space. This presentation will be held in person only. Vendors will be there and will be showcasing the latest devices for video magnification, scan and read, and Braille technology.

The second presentation, “How to Use Smart Glasses for Daily Tasks if You have Vision Loss or Blindness,” will be held on November 17th from 2PM – 3PM and has in-person at the TechOWL Community Space and virtual via Zoom options for attending.

Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) helps Pennsylvanians of all ages, all disabilities and health conditions, all income levels, and all communities and cultural backgrounds. We offer information about acquiring assistive technology (AT), funding resources, financial education, and financial loan programs. For more information, call 484-674-0506 or visit www.patf.us.

PATF is a state and federally-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and is the Commonwealth's designated Alternative Financing Program (AFP) under the federal Assistive Technology Act.

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