Asset Path
What is the ASSET PATH?
Opportunities is committed to developing products and services to help families increase their income (“EARN IT”), stabilize their financial lives, (“KEEP IT”) and acquire assets and build wealth (“GROW IT”).
In 2007 and 2008, we added several new products to address the increasing challenges faced by our market which include rising fuels costs, medical costs, credit card debt and lack of savings. We launched the following products with the goal of increasing income, rebuilding credit, stabilizing families and building wealth through savings and home ownership.
EARN IT Initiatives
We work closely with the CASH Coalition to ensure that members receive EITC refunds. In 2008, we invited IRS specialists to visit our SSDI recipients. The IRS along with AARP volunteers helped fill out the forms which allowed 8 members to discover they were eligible for $300 stimulus checks. These were individuals with monthly incomes of less than $1,000. Emphasis is placed on coaching savings habits and planning.
Opportunities provides affordable capital to support rural entrepreneurs. In 2008, we received a grant from the Job Start program to allow us to offer low cost loans under $2,500 to immigrants, women, single parent households and others looking to move out of poverty by starting a business. The “Ready, Set, Go” program provides matched savings and low cost loans with a savings reserve, Technical Assistance from the Community Action Agency and SBA and translation services from the Association of Africans Living in Vermont where needed. Loans typically will be for farm tools and seeds, equipment and materials for sewing, licensing and training.
In 2008, we granted $245,895 to 23 families needing assistance with closing costs and down payments allowing them to purchase homes all over Vermont. Both manufactured and stick-built homes were eligible for grants. Our home buyer education class was a pre-requisite for the grant. Note that 4 of these families were below 65% of median income and 8 families were below 45% of median income.
KEEP IT Initiatives
This individual development account matches savings for debt reduction for individuals who have developed budgets, action plans and attend at least 2 classes to improve their financial skills. The goal is to develop savings habits, to jump start paying off delinquent debt and unpaid collections and to build skills that will change bad habits and replace them with savings skills and good payment habits.
In 2008, we added the Good Wheels program in partnership with Good News Garage. This program combines education on selecting, financing and owning a car along with affordable financing and a minimum $500 in a savings reserve that can be used for auto repairs, emergency car payments or insurance.
This savings secured loan product and its uses have been greatly expanded since we originally designed it several years ago. The proceeds of the loan are put into a savings account and can be used to repay bills “Bill Payment Tracker” based on an agreed upon payment plan with creditors (automatically handled by the credit union), “Credit Tracker” to build or repair credit histories, the “Savings Tracker” to save for a down payment and the “Tax Tracker” to pay delinquent taxes. These are a few examples of how this product can be used to develop savings, repay debt and improved credit skills.
This savings secured fund is used to back emergency loans to residents of 3 towns.
In 2007, 384 people participated in our Money$ense programs (142 attended classes/workshops and 242 using our one on one counseling)
In 2008, 1,450 used Money$ense programs with over 400 attending classes and workshops and 1,050 meeting with our counseling staff.
We continue to seek support to ensure that we can provide much needed counseling and education along with foreclosure prevention and counseling to address other urgent financial situations. These services often are the point that determines whether a family will be homeless, lose a vehicle or be able to negotiate a plan to keep them safe and to prevent a further downward spiral.
Our counseling and education programs have greatly expanded their reach to include programs not only for home buyer and auto buyer education, credit and budget counseling, but also include specific programs and curriculum targeted to the Vermont Air National Guard, Africans Living in Vermont, Refugee Resettlement Program, Single Parent Households, Self Employed, Homeless and Near Homeless, etc.
We now deliver our counseling and education in many languages including recent classes in Russian, Arabic, Swahili, Burundi and French. Banking in the USA was developed to help immigrants transition from the banking/financial systems they came from to those available here. This program addresses specific cultural and economic differences and eliminates myths and barriers to moving along the asset path that immigrants’ experience. The goal is to create awareness in each community, to ensure that accurate information is passed along and that the opportunities and processes to build assets and good credit are understood.
This program started in early 2008 and targets individuals on fixed incomes who have no savings; who come in on the first of the month and withdraw all their money. Those who participate meet once a month to cover basic savings and budgeting with the goal of saving at least $10 per month. They are rewarded with $50 at year end if they meet this savings goal. The program develops simple approaches with rewards for small savers to build trust and confidence towards achieving small financial goals.
Budget Buddies-Budget Buddies is an offshoot of the Breakfast Club that pairs individuals with others who can help reinforce savings, budget and other skills learned in the Breakfast Club classes as issues arise throughout the month. Members have assignments and work on new areas each month.
Budget Buddies is an offshoot of our budgeting workshops. It is a support group where people can reinforce savings, budget and other skills learned in the budgeting classes as issues arise throughout the month. Each month, club members celebrate their money "successes", talk about their challenges and focus on finding solutions to their money challenges.
This program targets children and rewards them with 2 movie theatre tickets quarterly if they make at least a monthly savings deposit. Since Super Saturday in January 18 children have saved over $500. Many of the children are immigrants and/or from low income families who want something better for their children and while the parents often don’t believe they themselves can save, they do want saving’s habits for their children. A “Fire It Up” event was held in January 2009 to encourage new savers for this program
This club started with Edmunds Middle School students includes several financial education classes, a trip to the credit union to open a savings account and rewards for savings.
This matched savings program was set up in partnership with the Very Merry Theatre and provides a match of up to $150 in savings for children to participate in Very Merry Theatre classes, purchase sewing machines, instruments or other materials that allow them to be fully involved in theatre programs. Very Merry Theatre has set up a site in Burlington’s Old North End to reach out to underserved children who can grow and gain confidence from theatre experience.
This base share account is used for individuals who have had difficulty using bank accounts successfully. This starter savings account is for members who need access to basic financial services while learning appropriate use of the account. Members are generally in an Action Plan to repay collections with us or others. No electronic transactions other than direct payroll deposit are allowed. Members must maintain a minimum balance of $5.00 in their share account to retain membership and as they repay overdrafts and demonstrate financial skills, they gradually move into other accounts.
GROW IT
Opportunities was a partner in the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s Innovations in Manufactured Housing (I’M HOME) initiative. Our work focused on barriers to finding affordable loan programs saleable to the secondary market with the goal to access financing rates and terms comparable to traditional site-built housing. As manufactured housing represents 20-25% of Vermont’s affordable housing and is often the most affordable housing for Vermont’s working families, affordable financing through a secondary market is essential to increase the asset-building potential of this important housing type. Opportunities was able to get legislation passed in 2008 to title manufactured housing as real property, a first step in opening up secondary market financing.
In 2008, Opportunities Credit Union was recognized for sustainable innovation in a research project sponsored by the Filene Research Institute in partnership with Cornell University entitled, Back to the Future: Integrating Sustainability into Credit Union Strategy. Exploring innovative sustainable products and services in financial institutions, the authors highlighted Opportunities’ Tracker Loans and Manufactured Housing Lending Program as examples of how credit unions can build “sustainability” into their strategic mindset.
If you are a small business referred to us by Onion River Co-op/City Market you may be eligible for a special program that offers a rate of 4.99%. This program assists City Market's food vendors with affordable financing to allow them to expand their businesses.
Ask about this program to see if you qualify.
