In October WHISE became the auspice of the NILS program for the Cockatoo area.

The NILS scheme is an initiative of the Good Shepherd organisation. The scheme involves developing a community group to manage the loan scheme, targeting low or no-income earners who need urgent financial assistance, generally for white goods. The loans are assessed by trained volunteers, who work within the Good Shepherd guidelines for interviewing applicants, assessing applications and awarding and monitoring the loans granted. The typical loan is approximately $1000, and is repayable at no interest over an agreed period of time. The Cockatoo community group is the Committee of Management for the Cockatoo NILS program, and involves Cardinia- Casey Community Health Services (CHS), WHISE and Good Shepherd, as well as Cockatoo residents.

WHISE has applied for two further NILS programs one in Doveton, and another based at WHISE itself for women escaping domestic violence.