Neighborhood Partnerships

Today Neighborhood Partnerships is taking part in a nationally coordinated release of the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s Assets and Opportunity Scorecard. The Oregon Scorecard builds on a family financial resilience framework developed by CFED that looks at ways we as a state can act to support the five steps to financial security – Learn, Earn, Invest, Save, and Protect.

The Scorecard highlights the need for us to take action. Oregon received 1 B, 3 C’s and a D based on our data, and noted both long term and short term opportunities to make improvements.

The Oregon Legislature will re-convene in February for a short, one month session. While the budget will be the big topic of the session, we hope to be able to make improvements on one of the Scorecard recommendations and also make a difference for Oregon homeowners facing foreclosure.

Neighborhood Partnerships and the Housing Alliance will be working in parallel with other advocates in an effort to pass bills that will:

• Require mediation – stop preventable foreclosures: Mediation should be required before finalization of a foreclosure, to provide homeowners and lenders the opportunity to gather information and make timely decisions regarding alternatives to foreclosure.
• Provide “Dual-Track” protection: Homeowners should be protected from foreclosure during the time they are actively engaged in negotiations to modify their loans. We hope to increase transparency and accountability in loss mitigation negotiations.
• Set and enforce servicer standards and regulations: Servicers should adhere to basic minimum standards of good faith and fair dealing. The pending national settlement between the states’ Attorneys General and the 5 federally regulated banks may include these concepts, but state law would still be necessary to cover local banks and to provide an enforcement mechanism.

You can help! Call your legislator today and ask them to take action in February to stop preventable foreclosures and hold servicers to a high standard. And, join us in February as we visit legislators to share our stories. Contact jbyrd@neighborhoodpartnerships.org if you’re able to make a trip to Salem in February.

Not sure who your legislator is? Look here http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/.

Click here to listen to a news story on the scorecard release.

Oregon nonprofit groups shared ideas to give everyone in the state opportunities to better themselves financially at the “Rebuilding the Path of Opportunity: 2011 Asset Builders’ Conference” held in Silverton last week. Over 100 professionals from community development corporations, family centers, community action agencies, micro-enterprise organizations, housing authorities, and social services agencies joined together to share and learn how to build financial assets for all Oregonians. The conference was hosted by Neighborhood Partnerships, CASA of Oregon, and NeighborWorks Umpqua.

Margaret Van Vliet, Director of Oregon Housing and Community Services, opened the conference. Oregon Housing and Community Services plays a key role in expanding opportunities for low income Oregonians throughout Oregon. She addressed how the Oregon Individual Development Account Initiative (IDA) is an important program in the Department’s effort to build assets for lower income Oregon families and that she valued the many deeply committed and talented individuals and organizations that make the Initiative work.

Neighborhood Partnerships is a leader in asset building programming and policy in Oregon. NP houses the Oregon IDA Initiative, which is the largest state IDA program in the country. In addition, NP both leads and collaborates with others to promote and defend other policies that support financial stability in lower income families, such as legislation for low income housing and reductions to TANF. Kathy Turner, Program Director with Neighborhood Partnerships and the Oregon IDA Initiative states, “As the lead partner in developing the conference, we are very pleased with the level of engagement by our partners. Our shared vision is to create pathways of opportunity for all Oregonians–we all benefit when all of Oregon families and communities are thriving. This conference is an opportunity for partners to come together, share our best ideas, creatively address challenges, gain new perspectives and tools, and energize ourselves for the coming year.”

The conference featured several hands-on workshops about how to provide financial education, an introduction to financial coaching, how to support savers, how to protect assets, how to work with vulnerable populations, how to use behavioral economics in program planning, how to develop a banking program for folks who don’t typically use financial institutions, and much more. For example, Rebekah Barger, a program manager for NeighborWorks Umpqua, presented a session on how to build an IDA program focused on youth. As part of her workshop, she unveiled a newly minted financial education program designed to engage young adults.

When asked about the importance of financial education, Barger said money management skills need to start early. NeighborWorks Umpqua teaches young people about financial fitness and saving for college through a special program called “Gear Up.” Barger says the “Gear Up” program is a real eye-opener for most teens. “No matter how prepared they are, the kinds of things that they stumble over and have a hard time really absorbing, and almost are in denial of, are the realities of what it costs to live.” Personal finance isn’t a required course in Oregon schools. Barger believes it should be, and that it should be taught starting in junior high or earlier.

The conference also included presentations and discussions about national and state policy issues that impact lower income Oregonians. One such topic was credit and financial products and their impact on our low income neighbors. Carmina Lass, Program Director of Innovative Changes, a Portland group which makes microloans to people whose only other option might be an expensive payday loan, says she sees all the unrest today about banks and fees in a positive light. She says it could make people smarter about money. “People are really seeing the opportunity to take charge of their finances–working on better financial planning, better choices in terms of credit, but also learning how to evaluate financial institutions and the products that they offer, and find better products that meet their needs.”

The importance of having a stronger financial foundation is underscored by a recent research. In an emergency, according to the National Bureau of Financial Research, half of all American households would be unable to come up with $2,000 within 30 days, and about one in five would have to pawn something to get it.

Lass says that’s a good reason to start budgeting and saving. “Managing your money is stressful at any income level, and so the first step is just to start thinking about how to plan. Whatever there is, planning–just the act of planning out, for the next month, or next week, or even for the next day–is something that can help decrease the stress.”

At the closing plenary, Nita Shah, Executive Director of Microenterprise Services of Oregon summed up a core value for those present, “Poverty is unacceptable. We should never allow ourselves to look at a person who is poor and be complacent.” Panelists shared case studies of individuals who have worked to change their lives–which highlighted the critical functions that practitioners provide with financial education, coaching, encouragement, training, and more. The conference ended on a note of both concern and optimism for the future–those present recognize that the economic challenges of low income families may be increasing in the coming years, but they remain committed to creating pathways to prosperity for our neighbors across Oregon.

During the conference, the Public News Service wrote several stories on the conference and Oregon’s role in the national asset building movement. You can read them here and here.

Save the Date for Rebuilding the Path of Opportunity: An Oregon Asset Builders’ Conference.

The conference will take place at the Oregon Garden on November 9 and 10, 2011.

Early bird registration – for just $90 per person – will open on August 1.  Starting August 1, check http://ida.neighborhoodpartnerships.org for registration information and additional details about the conference.

We look forward to seeing you in November!

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and Neighborhood Partnerships (NP) are pleased to announce awards to the network of organizations that provide Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) to Oregonians in 32 counties.

“We’ll be awarding the largest amount ever in the history of the Initiative,” explains Rick Crager, Acting Director of OHCS.  “Over $7.3 million will be awarded in 2011 to IDA providers across Oregon to match savings for successful IDA graduates.  In addition, the IDA providers offer essential financial education and counseling to help IDA participants realize their dreams – a new home, a business start-up or a valuable education.”

“IDA’s are one of the key, proven strategies that OHCS uses to create pathways of opportunity for low-wealth Oregonians to build financial assets,” explains Janet Byrd, Executive Director of Neighborhood Partnerships.  “Through our partnership with the network of IDA providers, more than 1700 Oregonians have graduated from the IDA program and have purchased their home, started or expanded a small business in their community, or are gaining a post high school education to improve their skills and employability.  The impact goes well beyond the individuals and families – homeowners help stabilize their neighborhoods and expand the tax base, new businesses enrich their communities and it all contributes to greater economic vitality in Oregon.”

Awards range in size based upon the scale and capacity of the IDA provider.  The Community And Shelter Assistance Corporation of Oregon (CASA of Oregon) has been awarded $3,278,075.  CASA of Oregon is noteworthy for their work with educational IDA’s through the Matched Education Savings Account (MESA) program.  The Umpqua Community Development Corporation (UCDC) has been awarded $2,032,425.  UCDC has been successful with the full range of IDA’s, building new businesses; creating homeowners; and helping participants save for an education.  CASA and UCDC subcontract with networks of more than 70 non-profits to provide IDA services and ensure broad geographic access to the program, especially in coastal, central, northeastern and southern Oregon.

Mercy Corps Northwest has been awarded $328,000 and specializes in small business development – a number of their graduates have developed innovative food cart restaurants which are popular in Portland.  The Portland Housing Center effectively focuses on first time homebuyers and will be awarded $303,400.  The Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) works to enrich the lives of Native youth and families through education, community involvement, and culturally specific programming.  NAYA offers educational and small business opportunities for IDA participants and has been awarded $328,000.  Entrepreneurial Development Services (eDev) in Eugene/Springfield focuses on micro-enterprise development and has been awarded $155,488.  They helped an entrepreneurial IDA graduate launch the “Off the Waffle” restaurant in Eugene; one of the patron reviews rated the restaurant as “uncompromising in quality….”  The Warm Springs Community Action Team is also a vital partner in the Initiative.

“The network of non-profits that work with participants in the IDA program play several crucial roles,” explains Janet Byrd, executive director of Neighborhood Partnerships.  “They go out into urban, suburban and rural communities and recruit Oregonians to the IDA program.  They provide the vital financial education to teach IDA participants how to budget and save.  They coach IDA participants through the hard process of changing their financial behavior so they build their financial assets and financial stability.  They also educate participants about the specific asset they have chosen to save for, such as homeownership classes that help aspiring homeowners learn about all the costs in owning a home and small business courses that help participants develop a workable business plan to launch or expand their businesses.  Finally, when a participant has reached their savings goal, the IDA provider utilizes award funds to match their savings three to one, giving them the jump start toward financial stability and the middle class.”

A recent independent evaluation by the Portland State University Regional Research Institute concluded that “Oregon’s IDA Initiative is recognized as one of the strongest in the nation.”  Dr. Diane Yatchmenoff, lead evaluator, stated, “It reflects the state’s commitment to increasing financial resilience among low-income residents.”  In addition, the evaluation found consistent changes in the financial practices of participants.  “We found significant, positive financial behavioral changes, including increased use of budgets and savings,” continued Dr. Yatchmenoff.  A full copy of the evaluation may be found on the IDA website.

Matching funds are generated by contributions from individual Oregonians; the contributions are then eligible for a 75% Oregon state tax credit.  “2010 was a generous year for contributions,” explains Mr. Crager, “Oregonians contributed the resources that will provide the vital education, coaching and matching funds to move more Oregonians from the precipice of poverty to financial stability.”

More information about the Oregon IDA Initiative is available on the IDA website.

Oregon Thrives is a coalition of organizations and agencies working together to create healthy and prosperous communities where everyone has access to jobs, education, nutritious food, stable homes and services that protect and promote health and wellness.

We all have a stake in addressing the challenges our communities and neighbors are facing as a result of the recession.  Oregon Thrives’ 2011 Legislative Agenda includes strategies to help Oregonians access opportunity: housing and home ownership, financial assets and income, food access and security, business and jobs, education, health care, and community accountability.

The Oregon Thrives 2011 Legislative Agenda envisions an Oregon with healthy and prosperous communities where everyone has access to family wage jobs, quality education, nutritious food, stable homes and services that promote health and wellness.  Specifically the agenda includes:

Housing and Homeownership: We all need a place to call home in order to succeed in life.

Food Access and Security: Good nutrition helps families learn, work more productively, stay healthier and focus on opportunities to thrive.

Businesses and Jobs: Earned income is the first step towards a better future.

Financial Assets and Income: To enable Oregonians to weather unexpected financial storms, and to rebuild our middle class, Oregon families must be able to earn a living, save for the future, and protect those savings.

Education/Early Education: Education promotes civic responsibility, advances economic competitiveness and expands economic opportunity.

Health Care: We can improve community health, lower health care delivery costs and strengthen schools, businesses and homes.

Community Investment & Accountability Policies: Oregon’s revenues must be adequate to fund essential investments in our collective future.

Download the full agenda to learn more about the specific policies and proposals we’ve included on our agenda to help all Oregonians thrive.

Please join Oregon Thrives for our Lobby Day on Monday, February 14, 2011 in Salem at our State Capitol.  Join us as we thank legislators for their service and talk about ways to pull together to overcome hardship and build a better future for Oregon.  RSVP today, or read more about it here.

Neighborhood Partnerships staff is in Washington DC attending the CFED Assets Learning Conference.  We were also fortunate to attend a pre-conference session for State & Local Assets Coalitions.  This pre-conference session was attended by 43 state asset coalitions and over 30 local asset coalitions.  Both on days one and two, attendees were challenged to help CFED build a movement in this country to expand economic opportunities for all Americans.

At the end of day one, attendees were asked to respond about how we view asset building as part of a larger social movement, its strengths and weaknesses, and what we need from partners, national organizations, researchers and funders in the coming years to create opportunity for all Americans.

The discussion continued on day two, with a panel discussion on the role of government, state coalitions, foundations and national intermediaries in the asset building movement.  Robert Friedman, Founder and Chair of CFED presented state and local asset coalition partners with three opportunities he sees on the horizon:

1. This is a federal moment for the asset building movement.  The financial crisis has presented an opportunity where more than ever before, Americans are interested in saving and our leaders are interested in encouraging saving and investing.  Legislation to expand the savers credit to fifty million low income families (sponsored by our own Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Oregon District 3) is within our reach as are other asset building proposals. We need to take advantage of this opportunity.
2. The money we spend on asset building at the federal level is upside down—each year the federal government spends nearly $400 billion every year on asset building activity through tax benefits and credits—but most of it is for the wealthiest Americans.  CFED’s recently released report Upside Down highlights the opportunity to simply reprioritize a small portion of this asset building budget which could significantly and positively impact very-low , low and moderate income Americans.
3. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, the asset building agenda addresses the major problems this country is currently facing.  Asset building can create long term economic stability, access to opportunity and a true and stable middle class, and we can expand the pie in an “old fashioned” American way—though enterprise, saving and investment.

Most importantly, Mr. Friedman talked to the group about how this work is work that should appeal to all Americans. It expands opportunity for all Americans.  It develops businesses and promotes entrepreneurship.  It promotes the American Dream.   We have a history in this country of intentionally implementing policies that have helped over time to create a middle class, including the GI Bill, and the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction.  While these policies historically have not been open to all Americans—especially people of color—we can now implement intentional policies that positively impact everyone.   Mr. Friedman is right—this is the moment for the asset building movement. It’s time to create economic opportunity for all Americans.

Speaking yesterday at the opening plenary of CFED’s biennial Assets Learning Conference, Thomas Shapiro and Melvin Oliver outlined four strategies for eliminating the United States’ racial wealth gap.  Shapiro and Oliver are authors of Black Wealth/White Wealth, a flagship work on wealth and inequality.  Speaking to a crowd of over 1,000 advocates and service providers from all over the United States, Shapiro and Oliver linked historical practices such as redlining and discrimination by the federal housing administration, insurance companies and financial institutions and today’s subprime lending crisis.  Shapiro and Oliver pointed out that today—in 2010—the average African American household owns 10% of the wealth of the average white American household—a chilling statistic which hasn’t changed since the 1980s.

Shapiro and Oliver called on the audience to acknowledge hard truths about the role established asset building programs, such as the home mortgage interest rate deduction, play in augmenting unfair gains perpetuated for generations.  Thomas Shapiro cited the Panel Study on Income Dynamics, which has followed African American and white families for generations to monitor changes in wealth accumulation over time.  Shapiro pointed out that the study gives us the opportunity to monitor wealth accumulation throughout the life-cycle and conclusively demonstrates that the vast majority of wealth accumulation goes to those who are well off to begin with.

Shapiro and Oliver proceeded to outline a policy framework for addressing the racial wealth gap:

Thomas Shapiro called for critically examining wealth building provision in the tax code, which costs approximately 400 billion dollars a year.  These policies include the home mortgage interest deduction and savings for retirement pensions.  More than 50% of these expenditures go to the top 5% of tax payers—those making more than $167,000 per year, while very little goes to middle or low income tax payers.

Thomas Shapiro called on CFED’s audience to question our thinking on the estate tax and how the intergenerational transfer of wealth through inheritance fits into our country’s democratic tradition. Dr. Shapiro posited that inheritance is the enemy of merit, and called on the audience to question whether we can continue to pass along huge advantages through inheritance while placing a high value on equal opportunity.

Melvin Oliver reminded us that home equity is the main source of wealth for Americans, and asked conference attendees to consider the ways in which residential segregation impacts wealth. He pointed out that high rates of home ownership correlate with stable communities, civic participation, education attainment, and reduced criminal activity, and noted that African Americans do not get the same equity gains from home ownership as whites because of racial segregation and the systematic undervaluing of black neighborhoods.  This systematic undervaluation as a result of segregation is essentially an equity tax.  Dr. Oliver also called on community development institutions to purchase and renovate foreclosed homes, and called on us all to consider asset building opportunities for renters.

Finally, Melvin Oliver called on us to think about how Children’s Development Accounts can help to close the racial wealth gap. He recommended that public deposits made for each young person be greater  for lower-income families in order to make real strides to reducing the racial wealth gap over time.

Melvin Oliver concluded this powerful presentation by calling on the audience to recognize that, in order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. Shapiro and Oliver’s presentation was an important reminder about the urgency of asset policy reform coupled with culturally sensitive service delivery.  Stay tuned for more highlights from CFED’s biennial conference.

Recently released data shows that the total number of people in poverty grew to one in seven Americans in 2009.  This heart wrenching economic news tells the story of hardship many of us know well since nearly everyone has watched family members and friends struggle through prolonged periods of unemployment or underemployment since the start of the great recession.

With this news in the background, advocates from several of Oregon’s nonprofit leaders—including Neighborhood Partnerships, CASA of Oregon, the Native American Youth and Family Center, Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon, Umpqua CDC, the Partnership to End Poverty, and Mercy Corps NW—will travel to Washington DC next week to attend CFED’s biennial conference on asset building.

This year’s conference is called The Assets Movement at Its Moment: Creating the Save & Invest Economy. The conference organizers recognize that the economic hardship our country is currently experiencing presents those of us advocating for long term economic justice through policy change with an opportunity. All across the nation, families are reprioritizing the importance of saving. Neighborhoods are uniting to support local businesses. And community leaders from all walks of life are reimagining the role of government in ensuring we have a stable and sound economy that truly provides opportunity for everyone. This is, in fact, a moment.

The Assets Movement at Its Moment conference will be grounded in 30 years of innovative asset-building work by CFED and community practitioners worldwide—work that has helped thousands gain economic security including over 1,500 Oregonians who have increased their financial stability through the Oregon Individual Development Account Initiative.  The financial strategies, products, services and programs piloted over the last 30 years are now poised for expansion as core components in economic restructuring.  Now is the time for far more people to take part and prosper in the economic mainstream through strategic and innovative policy change.

The Assets Learning Conference will bring together more than 1,000 insightful and influential community practitioners, government officials, policymakers, researchers, business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs seeking to lay a new foundation for economic recovery and expansion—an expansion that works for all of us.  In addition, the conference will be a chance for Oregon’s leaders in asset building to learn new strategies and practices from our peers, and to step back from our day-to-day work and think broadly about policy goals for the antipoverty and asset building movements.  It will be an opportunity for critical reflection at this moment of great uncertainty and change.

We invite you to join Neighborhood Partnerships as we report on the conference as it unfolds.  We will be blogging from the conference including a report out on CFED’s State of the Movement address.  Stay tuned to our Facebook page for reactions from the Oregon delegation, and their reflections on the conference and hopes for the future of the asset building movement. We look forward to sharing this momentous experience with all of you.

In less than two weeks, staff from Neighborhood Partnerships will travel to Washington, DC for the Assets Learning Conference hosted by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED). CFED, one of our partner organizations, is dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for all Americans for over 30 years. The conference, The Assets Movement at its Moment: Creating the Save & Invest Economy, will convene over 1,000 leaders from the Assets & Opportunity field in Washington, DC, September 22–24. Find out more information about the conference here.

While at the conference, we will attend a session on Predatory Lending. According to CFED, this session “will address the policies at the local, state and federal levels that address predatory consumer lending—including payday loans, rent-to-own arrangements, predatory auto loans and refund anticipation loans.” These are all interesting and relevant topics to our work here in Oregon, in particular the pieces about refund anticipation loans.

In 2011, Our Oregon will begin working to curb the abuse of refund anticipation loans through legislative action, and Neighborhood Partnerships has recently signed on as a supporter of this effort.

Refund Anticipation Loans (or RALs) are short-term and high-cost loans for people expecting tax refunds. RALs are given to consumers by banks or tax preparers, and in exchange the bank or tax preparer then charges the consumer an interest rate and fees—all for loaning them their own money. In an age of e-filing and direct deposits, consumers could get their refund—all of it—from the IRS within as little as seven days, but they aren’t told this by tax preparers. Unfortunately, RALs are all too often sold to low income people who are receiving refunds such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and can little afford the fees and interest rates charged by preparers.

Legislation proposed by Our Oregon would not eliminate Refund Anticipation Loans, or RALs. Instead, it has three key provisions:

1. Taxpayers are given upfront, easy to understand information about all of the costs associated with the transaction.
2. Prohibition of add on fees charged by tax preparers for the loans.
3. Require RAL facilitators to be registered and bonded with the Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners.

The high fees and interest rates take money directly away from the most economically vulnerable households, and diminish the impact of important anti-poverty programs like the EITC. Giving consumers appropriate and complete information is only fair.

Anti-poverty programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit do work—but we have to make sure that people can access these programs, and that their impacts aren’t diminished by products such as refund anticipation loans. Oregonians deserve a Legislature that protects them from predatory lending and makes sure they have all the information they need to make good decisions.

At the Assets Learning Conference, we’ll be interested to hear how other states are handling refund anticipation loans and other forms of predatory lending.

More about the Assets Learning Conference:

This year’s conference remains the only place where a diverse group of leaders comes together to discuss innovations, vision and strategies in assets practice, policy and research. Building on the momentum from the 2008 conference, CFED is creating a program focused on the issues you care about the most, paying particular attention to the biggest challenges facing low‐ and moderate income American individuals and families.

With five exciting plenaries and 60 Concurrent Sessions we’re excited to learn the best and most effective practices, research and innovations at the local, state, national and international level in asset building, homeownership, entrepreneurship, children’s savings and education, behavioral economics, manufactured housing, community and economic development and much more.

In addition to an impressive slate of esteemed presenters, this year’s conference will once again feature advocacy visits on Capitol Hill. It will also feature the first‐ever Innovation Marketplace, a virtual and in‐person space for conference participants to interact with innovative leaders and entrepreneurs dedicated to addressing the challenges facing low‐income Americans. Visit www.assetsconference.org today!

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are a matched savings program that help low and moderate-income families purchase assets such as a home, a post-secondary education, or the capital needed to start or expand a small business.  Neighborhood Partnerships brought Amy Shir—an expert asset building consultant—to present strategies to increase participant recruitment and retention to forty of Oregon’s IDA providers in June.

Ms. Shir recommended developing a recruitment strategy that maps out plans for the year including the target numbers of inquiries, applications and enrolled savers each quarter. Many of Ms. Shir’s recommended recruitment strategies are common sense approaches such as:

Reaching potential IDA savers though major employers of traditionally low wage workers such as hospitals, hotels, big-box retailers, restaurants, cleaning services, and sports and entertainment venues;

Reaching IDA savers by partnering with affordable housing programs, Small Business Centers, tribal organizations, Community Action Agencies, Head Start, vocational schools, or Refugee Resettlement Programs; and

Targeting low and moderate-income families who get their taxes prepared through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs, and encouraging new enrollees to save part or all of their Earned Income Tax Credit refund.

Ms. Shir also reminded those in attendance that a well planned retention strategy saves time and money for IDA providers in the long run. Ms. Shir recommended retention strategies such as:

Offering alternatives to participants physically having to go to the bank to make monthly deposits such as direct deposit, mail-in deposits, and ATM deposits;

Staying in touch with participants during the savings period through initiatives like Savers Club meetings, quarterly budgeting check-ins, electronic newsletters and Facebook groups, text message reminders to save, and sending monthly progress statements to savers;

Offering focused asset-specific resources to participants such as peer networking events for microenterprise IDA savers, campus tours and financial aid seminars for education IDA savers, and home tours for home ownership IDA savers;

Making financial education training as flexible and accessible as possible by offering perks for training attendees such as a convenient location, bus passes or other transportation support, multiple scheduling options, childcare, food, and interpreters if appropriate;

Encouraging prospective participants on waiting lists to start saving prior to enrollment since pre-savings can make it even easier for participants to reach their goals; and

Working with participants on credit repair as soon as they apply to the program to avoid unanticipated delays once the participant has met his or her savings goal.

Above all, Ms. Shir stressed flexibility, creativity and the importance of tailoring each IDA program to meet the diverse and changing needs of savers.  Click here to see Ms. Shir’s full PowerPoint from her June presentation. NP’s next IDA provider training will cover strategies for providing financial education to adult learners.  Email Haley Cloyd for more information.