LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE FUNDING FOR MATCHED SAVINGS PROGRAM

Up to 75 Central Oregon lower income families will have an opportunity to increase their savings to achieve their goals. Housing Works, NeighborImpact, the Partnership to End Poverty, and Warm Springs Community Action Team announced today that the organizations have been allocated a combined $200,000 for their matched savings Individual Development Account programs.

The Individual Development Accounts, called IDAs, are an innovative matched saving program to help hard working Oregonians gain greater financial security and financial management skills. Participants who have saved between $25 and $84 each month have their savings matched at ratio of 3 to 1. At the end of 3 years, in some cases, this could mean that as much as $12,000 might be available to the participant for the purchase of an asset.

The IDA money can be used for homeownership, microenterprises, further post-secondary education, home repair and renovation, or adaptive equipment technology with specialized training. During the savings period, program participants also attend financial education and other classes related to their savings goals to help secure financial self-sufficiency in the future.

“None of us are having problems enrolling people in this great program,” reported Kim Manie-Oskoii, Director of Housing Programs/Resident Services for Housing Works.

Corky Senecal, Director of Housing & Emergency Services at NeighborImpact concurred. “We have had waiting lists and our new slots will be assigned quickly.”

Income eligibility limits apply to households who want to take part in the program. A household income must be 80% or less of a county’s area median income. This income limit depends on the number of persons in the household and the county of residence.

“IDAs are a fantastic avenue to help low-income families get a leg up and begin to become self-sufficient again,” said Sarah Holtzclaw of the Partnership to End Poverty. “It’s a way to let the families help themselves.”

The Oregon IDA program began in 1999 and is funded through an IDA tax credit initiative. Individuals and businesses can contribute to the initiative through the Neighborhood Partnership Fund, an Oregon non-profit, which is empowered by Oregon Housing and Community Services to manage the tax credits. Seventy-five percent of the contribution to the program returns to the donor as a tax credit on the Oregon income tax returns.

Housing Works serves over 1,600 households throughout Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. With a mission to ‘foster dignity through housing’, the organization addresses a continuum of housing needs of lower income households and vulnerable citizens, such as seniors and the disabled. Housing Works offers award-winning affordable rental communities, special needs/supportive housing, homeownership opportunities, a family self-sufficiency program, savings programs, and a rental assistance program which serves almost 1,100 households.

NeighborImpact seeks to change the course of each family’s future by giving them the tools they need to succeed. NeighborImpact’s tool box includes Head Start, weatherization, home repair, energy and rent assistance, financial skills building, savings programs, assisting parents to find child care, tutoring homeless children, providing emergency and transitional housing to homeless families, home buyer education and feeding the hungry.

The Partnership to End Poverty, a Redmond-based nonprofit, brokers resources and leverages partnerships to reduce poverty and help families and communities achieve sustainability.

For information on the IDA program, call NeighborImpact at 548-2380 x138, the Partnership to End Poverty at 504-1389, Housing Works at 923-1018, or Warm Springs Community Action Team at 553-3148.

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