MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Need money for housing, but need it right now?

If so, stop by the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society in building 2273 and talk to one of the volunteers there to assist personnel in receiving a same-day advance for housing allowance.

According to Luz Terry, chairman of volunteers for the NMCRS, the bridge loan program speeds up a process that can take weeks.

"Establishing a household in a new area can be expensive," said Terry. "To offset this, servicemembers may draw an advance of basic housing allowance."

The loan is available to servicmembers who are newly married, lived in the barracks but now receive BAH, or servicemembers who are in a permanent change of duty station status.

"A bridge loan is for the purpose of filling in the gap between the servicemember receiving the advanced BAH and the need to move into a new house," she said. "This loan is a check written in the same amount of the BAH and is written to the housing development or landlord."

Terry also said the only way to receive the bridge loan is with the approval of the finance office, the servicemember's commanding officer and their sergeant major.

"The letter from the unit sergeant major is an agreement the servicemember signs promising to pay back the loan," she said. "If not, the money will be taken back in a three-month allotment which can be more than $400 a month in some cases."

According to the finance office here, the loan is interest free and is there to assist the servicemember.

"The loan is there to defray the cost of moving expenses," said Lance Cpl. Jennifer C. Arredondo, finance clerk, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron. "It can be deducted monthly at no-less than $100 per month."

The ability to use advanced BAH more than once is up to the servicemembers' chain of command.

Terry said that a growing family is one example of using the loan more than once in a four-year tour at the same duty station.

Terry hopes more Marines and Sailors will use the program because financial difficulties are one of NMCRS's biggest issues.

"The goal of this loan is to let people know what is out there for them," she said. "We want them to get everything together and come to us so we can help them."

For more information on advanced loans, contact NMCRS at 577-1807, or the finance office at 577-6980.