Star Tribune

Tyren McGruder, a working-class single dad, has emerged from the debt trap of payday loans thanks to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

Church members decided to do something in 2012 when a couple of payday lenders moved into their East Lake Street neighborhood.

“Holy Trinity always has been very social-justice and community-oriented,” said Phil Jury, businessman and church member who started to study the payday situation with other congregants. “We felt if we could develop a working alternative to these lenders, then we could more easily press the case for [state] legislative reform of this industry.”