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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401-9215
ACF Grants for $7.3 Million Promote Economic Self-Sufficiency
25 ‘Assets for Independence’ Grants Support Programs
For
Low-Income Families and Individuals
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced 25 awards totaling $7,331,975 to provide financial education and economic support services to low-income individuals and families through the Assets for Independence (AFI) program.
“President Bush is dedicated to helping low-income families achieve self-sufficiency by giving them the tools they need to become independent,” said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., HHS assistant secretary for children and families. “These grants will provide resources for college education, for the purchase of a first home or to start a small business.”
Today’s grants include:
• $195,500 to the Center for Women and Families, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky;
• $505,702 to the Broward County Board of Commissioners in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida;
• $290,000 to the California Coalition for Rural Housing in Sacramento, California;
• $525,000 to the Chinatown Manpower Project in New York, New York;
• $500,000 to the City of Los Angeles, California;
• $235,294 to the Community and Shelter Assistance Corporation in Newberg, Oregon;
• $150,000 to CTE, Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut;
• $18,571 to the Douglas-Cherokee Economic Authority, Inc. in Morristown, Tennessee;
• $150,000 to Empowerment 2010, Inc. in Portsmouth, Virginia;
• $250,000 to First State Community Loan Fund in Wilmington, Delaware;
• $900,000 to Hi-Tech Charities in St. Louis, Missouri;
• $180,000 to the Illinois Department of Human Services in Chicago, Illinois;
• $300,000 to the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, Inc. in Frankfort, Kentucky;
• $500,000 to Lenders for Community Development in San Jose, California;
• $200,000 to Los Angeles Community Reinvestment in Los Angeles, California;
• $250,000 to the Mississippi Association of Community Action in Jackson, Mississippi;
• $1,000,000 to the New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal in Albany, New York;
• $52,000 to the Montana Credit Unions for Community Development in Helena, Montana;
• $88,500 to the North Carolina Department of Labor in Raleigh, North Carolina;
• $40,000 to the Northeast Community Federal Credit Union in San Francisco, California;
• $250,000 to the Northeast Florida Community Action Agency in Jacksonville, Florida;
• $64,702 to the Ojibwa Housing Authority and Ojibwa College in L’Anse, Michigan;
• $164,706 to The Race for Education, Inc. in Lexington, Kentucky;
• $240,000 to the Seattle Business Assistance Center in Seattle, Washington; and
• $230,000 to the West Central Minnesota Communities Action, Inc. in Elbow Lake, Minnesota.
AFI is a federal grant program administered by the Office of Community Services at ACF. Grantees assist participants with saving earned income in special bank or credit union accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Every dollar saved by a participant is matched with grant funds. Participants use IDA resources to acquire long-term assets, applying the funds toward buying a first home, higher education or to support a small business.
AFI provides five-year grants of up to $1,000,000 to nonprofit organizations and state, local and tribal governments. Currently more that 325 AFI projects are underway across the country, and more than 30,000 families have saved earned income in IDAs supported by the AFI program.
For more information on AFI, go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/assetbuilding/.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news