HOUSING WORKS AWARDED $50,000 ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR MATCHED SAVINGS PROGRAM
A new allocation of $50,000 will give up to eight additional Central Oregon lower income families an opportunity to achieve their savings goals. Housing Works announced today that it has been awarded additional funding for its matched savings program, Valley Individual Development Account (VIDA), through CASA of Oregon.
The Individual Development Account program, called IDAs, is an innovative matched savings program to help hard working Oregonians build assets 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 three years, 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.
“We’re very pleased to be able to open our VIDA program to more people,” said Kelly Fisher, homerownership manager for Housing Works. “This program really helps low-income families start saving for their futures and we will be using this additional allocation primarily for families saving for homeownership.”
To be eligible for 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.
Since Housing Works began its VIDA program in 2007, it has had thirty-eight participants. Of those, fifteen have graduated with an average of $4,200 in matched savings. Thirteen of those graduates have become homeowners and one is pursuing higher education.
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 contributor as a tax credit on their 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.
The Community And Shelter Assistance Corporation, or CASA of Oregon, is a statewide nonprofit that develops housing, programs and facilities that improve the quality of life and self-sufficiency of farmworkers and other low-income populations. CASA generally works in collaboration with community organizations and housing sponsors such as Housing Works. The organization is the administrator of the Valley Individual Development Account program. VIDA is the largest IDA program in Oregon, constituting a collaboration of 42 Community Development Corporations, Housing Authorities and non-profit organizations that serve low income families throughout the state.
For information on the VIDA program, call Kelly Fisher at Housing Works at 323-7410.
