Community Trust Bank Money Smart Model Site (CTB)

The Community Trust Bank Money Smart Model Site (CTB), located in Choudrant, Louisiana, is spearheaded by CTB. CTB originally formed the model site partnership with the City of West Monroe Tanner Center (WMTC) and Renewal, Inc. In 2003, CTB expanded the partnership to promote financial education with the addition of the YWCA of Northeast Louisiana, which has locations in Monroe, Louisiana, and the City of West Monroe Public Housing Authority. The model site ties financial education to the opportunity to establish Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), homeownership, job training, and self-sufficiency training programs for individuals moving from welfare to work, newly employed persons, victims of domestic violence, ex-offenders recently released from prisons and underserved low-and moderate-income individuals.

Partners

The WMTC is the Department of Labor's One Stop Center in West Monroe, Louisiana. The WMTC received a capacity building grant and a matching funds grant from Foundation for the Mid South to establish and offer IDAs to qualified residents in the West Monroe area. Renewal, Inc. is a nonprofit faith-based organization providing job training and economic development, which also received an emerging program grant and a matching funds grant from Foundation for the Mid South and is targeting the impoverished Mississippi Delta Region. CTB is a $350 million financial institution with eleven branches operating in north Louisiana. CTB administers IDAs for the Money Smart graduates of the Tanner Center. Renewal, Inc., located in south Monroe, Louisiana, is promoting social and economic development by utilizing a holistic approach to achieve self-sufficiency. The YWCA and West Monroe Housing Authority provide instructors and financial education efforts under the auspices of complimentary programs within their organizations for the model site target audiences. The West Monroe Public Housing Authority is using the Money Smart Program to teach financial education to persons enrolled in HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency Program. Once completed, graduates are eligible to enroll in the IDA program administered by Community Trust Bank. For a listing of model site partners please select Financial Institutions or Other Partners.

Accomplishments

• Over 100 persons have attended Money Smart sessions taught by CTB personnel, with 61 persons receiving Money Smart Certificates of Completion.
• To-date, 25 persons have enrolled in the IDA program offered through WMTC and CTB.
• Five persons met their IDA requirements by completing Money Smart classes, went on to save $1,000, received matching funds of $4,000 and became homeowners.
  

Central Arkansas Development Council
Benton, Arkansas

Central Arkansas Development Council (CADC) began serving central Arkansas in 1965. As Arkansas’ largest Community Action Agency, CADC provides the following services to low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons:

• Individual Development Accounts (IDA)
• Nutrition
• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
• Free Tax Preparation through VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)
• Weatherization
• Transportation
• Head Start
• Senior Adult Centers
• Family Development & Credentialing Classes
• Community Development
• Single Parent Scholarship Fund

In their 12 county service area, CADC has provided social services to over 35,000 low- and moderate-income persons since their inception.

CADC’s main goal in using the Money Smart curriculum is to help LMI persons become self-sufficient by understanding the importance of using financial institutions for their money transactions and to better utilize the limited financial resources they have. CADC has been a strong supporter and user of the Money Smart curriculum since it was first introduced in 2001. In 2005, CADC served as a “Test Site” to review the revised Money Smart curriculum. In 2008, FDIC held a refresher Money Smart training session for all of CADC’s Family Development Specialists, focusing on how best to use the Money Smart Computer Based Instruction (CBI) version to help reach those unbanked individuals in the communities they serve.

Since 2006, CADC has taught 974 persons the importance of budgeting using the “Money Matters” module in connection with CADC’s LIHEAP A-16 Program. The A-16 Program is a utility assistance program that encourages and enables LMI households to learn how to reduce their home energy usage and their need for energy assistance.

Between 2006 and 2008, 111 persons completed all 10 Money Smart modules and started IDAs with CADC. Sixty-five of these individuals reached their goal of homeownership, home improvement/repairs, post-secondary education, or small business development through the IDA Program offered through CADC.

Additionally, CADC distributes copies of the Money Smart CBI CD to those interested in learning how to manage their money or learn how to save. Throughout their 12-county service area, CADC has taught Money Smart classes in homeless shelters, alternative schools, churches and housing authorities. CADC has developed active partnerships with 19 local financial institutions to help participants establish IDA savings accounts and provide financial services to CADC clients.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, LA (NHS of New Orleans)

NHS of New Orleans provides comprehensive services for first-time homebuyers and existing homeowners through counseling, classroom training, loan packaging, and construction management services. Its mission is to help revitalize New Orleans neighborhoods by increasing the number of homeowners and reducing the number of substandard or vacant houses through renovation into sustainable and productive homeownership. In addition to its citywide efforts, NHS of New Orleans engages in comprehensive community development within targeted neighborhoods to improve the quality of life and promote commercial redevelopment.

NHS of New Orleans was founded in 1976 as a private, non-profit housing corporation. NHS of New Orleans employs a holistic approach to revitalization, bringing lenders, government entities, and nonprofit providers together to both reduce the number of substandard and vacant houses in New Orleans and increase home ownership opportunities for families who might not normally qualify through traditional methods. Although home ownership is the core program through which NHS of New Orleans fulfills its mission, neighborhood stabilization is also carried out with commercial revitalization and by increasing the involvement of residents, businesses, and schools in their community. In 1992, NHS joined the Neighborworks® Campaign for Homeownership. NHS of New Orleans is the only organization in New Orleans that provides Full Cycle lending, comprehensive programs to assist first-time homebuyers and existing homeowners obtain financing to create sustainable homeownership opportunities city-wide.

As a full service center, NHS' HomeOwnership Center provides the following services: pre-qualification counseling, home ownership training, financial fitness training, low interest loans, foreclosure prevention loans, Individual Development Accounts, downpayment/closing cost assistance, NHS Acquisition Rehab Loan Product, home inspections, construction management, post-purchase education, and affordable homes for sale. The Money Smart curriculum serves as a core instructional element during the financial fitness training classes that are offered monthly. In addition to Money Smart classes, clients are also able to access the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) for those who are eligible, take advantage of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC).

Partners

NHS of New Orleans was created in 1976 and believes that partnerships between local residents, financial institutions, businesses, and local government working together can stop decline, promote reinvestment, and restore pride and confidence in urban neighborhoods. NHS New Orleans works in partnership with local lending institutions in New Orleans to provide mortgages for their homeownership program. The lenders have developed programs that assist first-time homebuyers purchase homes in New Orleans. For a listing of model site partners please select Financial Institutions or Other Partners.

Accomplishments

• 230 families have graduated from NHS's financial fitness classes.
• 31 Section 8 families have become first time homebuyers.
• In 2003 NHS had 96 families enrolled in the IDA program and 22 had purchased homes.
• 33 families have graduated from the IDA Program.
• 25 Individuals have opened new checking and/or saving accounts.
• Over 195 clients received Money Smart classes during 2003 and 2004.
  

Crowley’s Ridge Development Council, Inc., Jonesboro, AR

Crowley’s Ridge Development Council, Inc. (CRDC) serves eight counties in northeast Arkansas:  Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Jackson, Poinsett, St. Francis, and Woodruff.   This service area has a total population of 271,973 and 44 percent of the population live in rural areas.  CRDC served over 18,000 families in fiscal year 2006, with 94 percent of the families served having incomes at or below 125 percent of the poverty level.  Thirty-six percent of CRDC customers are defined as the “working poor” and 24 percent receive Social Security.   Many low-income persons in the service area cite the lack of transportation as a key impediment to accessing services. One of a network of Community Action Agencies serving Arkansas, CRDC offers the following programs to help meet the needs of individuals living in northeast Arkansas:

• Child Development, including Head Start and the Child Care Food Program.
• Human Services, including the Family Enrichment Program, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Assurance 16 (energy conservation education), Emergency Food and Shelter, HOME and Self-Help Housing Programs, and the Weatherization Assistance Program.
• Aging Services, including Home Meal Delivery, Transportation, and ElderChoices.
• Substance Abuse Services

Since 2005, CRDC has implemented Money Smart to teach financial literacy to those who have utilized several of the programs offered, including the Family Enrichment Program, LIHEAP, and Assurance 16.  Further, CRDC administers an Individual Development Account (IDA) matched-savings program for low-income persons hoping to own their own home or repair their existing one, pursue secondary education, or start a small business.  Money Smart has been utilized as the required financial education component of the IDA Program. 

In fiscal year 2006, CRDC staff has taught Money Smart to 157 individuals.  Banks participating in the IDA program by making financial contributions and/or offering savings accounts to IDA participants include:

• Liberty Bank of Arkansas, Jonesboro, AR
• First National Bank, Paragould, AR
• The First National Bank of Wynne, AR
• Merchants & Planters Bank, Newport, AR
• The Bank of Augusta, Augusta, AR
• Regions Bank, Jonesboro, AR
• Simmons First Bank of Jonesboro, AR
• BancorpSouth, Jonesboro, AR
• First Delta Bank, Marked Tree, AR