Community Investment News (January 10, 2006)
Monday, March 17th, 2008January 10, 2006 ASSET BUILDING AND PRESERVATION Briefing on Illinois’s College Savings Plans Expanding Native Opportunity: Native IDA Initiative three-day Training Institute Savings Program Moves Young Adults from Foster Homes to Dream Homes Family Economic Success Quarterly Newsletter FINANCIAL EDUCATION FLLIP Coalition: FLLIP winter meeting January 18, 2006 FLLIP Financial Education Instructor Trainings, Jan 19-20 and Feb 2-3 How to help FLLIP! ACCESS TO MAINSTREAM FINANCIAL SERVICES Nonprofits pioneering new distribution channels for the underbanked Community Development Investment Review–NEW Federal Bank Publication out of San Francisco Asset building, affordable housing, economic development and sustainable energy, from Chicago Fed’s “Around The District” Federal Financial Regulatory Agencies Propose Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products CRA exam schedule and ratings CALENDAR OF EVENTS Jan 11: IABG briefing on Illinois’s College Savings Plans Jan 18: FLLIP Coalition quarterly meeting Jan 19, 20: All My Money training workshop Jan 26: Keeping it Real: The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Social Enterprise Feb 2, 3: Your Money and Your Life training workshop Feb 6: IABG Policy Committee Meeting Feb 21: IABG Coordinating Committee Meeting ASSET BUILDING AND PRESERVATION Briefing on Illinois’s College Savings Plans Youare invited to an informal briefing on Illinois’s college savingsprograms on Wednesday, Jan. 11, from 2:15 to 3:15 pm. Bartt Stevens ofthe Office of the State Treasurer will present and answer questionsabout Illinois’s Bright Start college savings plans and the potentialadvantages and disadvantages of using college savings plans as avehicle for a state children’s savings program. The briefing will takeplace at the Shriver Center, 50 East Washington, Suite 500, Chicago,Illinois (corner of Wabash and Washington). To participate byconference call, please dial: 1-888-296-6500. Passcode: 257167. PleaseRSVP to jamischlafer@povertylaw.org. Expanding Native Opportunity: Native IDA Initiative 3-day Training Institute, Feb. 21-23 TheNative IDA Initiative combines a three-day training institute withcustomized technical assistance to help your Native organizationstart-up, implement, and sustain Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)in your community. The next Native IDA training institute will be heldin Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 21-23, 2006 and is presented byFirst Nations Development Institute, First Nations Oweesta Corporation,and CFED. To apply for the upcoming training institute, click here to download an application. Return the application by fax (202.408.9793), email (emily@cfed.org), or mail to Emily Appel, Native IDA
Initiative, CFED, 777 N. Capitol Street, NE, Suite 800, Washington, DC20002. Call Emily at 202.408.9788 ext 155 with any questions about theapplication. Savings Program Moves Young Adults from Foster Homes to Dream Homes TheJim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative trains participants ages 14 to23 in all money matters - from opening a checking account and buyingcar insurance to starting their own small businesses. The program alsoconnects former foster children with mentors - from doctors toaccountants to counselors and provides matching funds for savingsaccounts that the participants start, ranging from one-to-one matchesfor those saving to buy a car to four-to-one matches for buying ahouse. Read the entire article by Doug Gross by clicking here. Family Economic Success Quarterly Newsletter The latest Family Economic Success Quarterly Newsletter, published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is available here.The newsletter provides updates on activities, developments andresources in the three major strategy areas of FES—workforcedevelopment, family economic support and community investment. The goalof Casey’s FES work is to help low-income families secure adequateincomes, accumulate savings, and live in stable, economically viableneighborhoods, so they can provide for their children and move ahead. FINANCIAL EDUCATION Financial Links for Low-Income People (FLLIP)
Major funding for FLLIP is provided by the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Grand Victoria Foundation. FLLIP Financial Education Trainings, Jan 19-20 and Feb 2-3 Financial education instructor training sessions are being offered in January and February. Trainings use the FLLIP curricula: All My Money and Your Money and Your Life. The January All My Money sessions are full. There are only a few spots available for Your Money and Your Life training on February 2 and 3 from 9:00 to 4:00 at the Shriver Center in Chicago. All My Money is a pre-requisite for Your Money & Your Life.Topics covered will include managing debt, avoiding money traps, usingfinancial institutions, choosing insurance, realizing job benefits,making money with money, taking advantage of public benefits,understanding taxes, identity theft, and immigrant banking issues. Thetraining includes instruction, an instructor manual, materials,handouts, and food (a light breakfast, lunch, and refreshments).Contact Jami Schlafer at 312-368-8575, or jamischlafer@povertylaw.org for more information or to register. Please RSVP by January 19. How to Help FLLIP Financial institutions, foundations, government organizations, and individuals can help FLLIP in the following ways. 1. Underwrite a FLLIP Financial Education Program site for one year
2 . Underwrite a 4-day train-the-trainer session for up to 20 nonprofitstaff members to learn to deliver FLLIP’s Financial Education Program
3 . Sponsor the FLLIP Catalyst Awards Luncheon
4 . Sponsor a FLLIP quarterly meeting (May 3, 2006 sponsor needed!) ACCESS TO MAINSTREAM FINANCIAL SERVICES Nonprofits Pioneering New Distribution Channels for the Underbanked Nonprofitsare leading the way to provide a better range of financial services tounderbanked consumers, according to a recent American Banker article.In collaboration with banks and other financial services companies,quality and affordable financial products and services–such asmicroloans, better and cheaper insurance, and remittance education–arebecoming more accessible to recent immigrants and those with little orno credit. To learn more about how these nonprofits and foundations areforging the way, contact Jennifer Tescher of the Center for FinancialServices Innovation in Chicago at jtescher@cfsinnovation.com. Community Development Investment Review - New Publication by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco TheFederal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Center for CommunityDevelopment Investments published the inaugural issue of the CommunityDevelopment Investment Review. This issue of the Review explores theNew Markets Tax Credit program: how well it’s working, its impact onlow-income communities, and how investors have solved some of thepractical issues around using the credit. The Review is availableonline at http://www.frbsf.org/publications/. The Center for Community Development Investments is online at http://www.frbsf.org/cdinvestments/. Asset Building, Affordable Housing, Economic Development, and Sustainable Energy Illinois,Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin are featured on the Chicago Fed’swebsite’s “Around the District” section. Illinois, in particular, isnoted for its state asset policy initiatives fostered by the FederalReserve Bank of Chicago, the Sargent Shriver National Center on PovertyLaw, and the Illinois Asset Building Group. Indiana recently receivedover $6 million to support an affordable housing project, Iowa receivedfunding for the development of a Sustainable Food and Energy Model Farmequipped to facilitate year-round food production, and Wisconsininitiated a new regional economic development council. To read more,please click here. Federal Financial Regulatory Agencies Propose Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products Thefederal financial regulatory agencies are proposing guidelines tocarefully manage the potential heightened risk levels created bynontraditional mortgage products, including “interest-only” mortgageloans in a joint press release. To read the entire press release andthe proposed guidelines, click here. CRA Exam Schedule and Ratings Thereare four regulating agencies that evaluate banks’ compliance with theCommunity Reinvestment Act (CRA). The following are links to eachagencies’ exam schedule and the evaluation results. Office of theComptroller of the Currency (OCC): Exam schedule, Evaluation results
Federal Reserve Board: Exam schedule, Evaluation results
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC): Exam schedule, Evaluation results
Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS): Exam schedule and results CALENDAR OF EVENTS Briefing on Illinois’s College Savings Plans
January 11, 2:15 - 3:15pm
Shriver Center, 50 E. Washington St., Suite 500
For more information, contact Jami Schlafer at jamischlafer@povertylaw.org or 312-368-8575. FLLIP Coalition quarterly meeting
January 18, 12:00pm-1:30pm (11:00am Instructors’ meeting)
Mid-America Club, Chicago, 200 East Randolph Drive, 80th floor - Aon Center
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Jami Schlafer at 312-368-8575, or jamischlafer@povertylaw.org.
Your Money & Your Life Train-the-Trainer Session
February 2,3 (YMYL), 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
50 E. Washington St., Suite 500, Chicago
Contact Jami Schlafer (312.368.8575, jamischlafer@povertylaw.org) for more information or to RSVP for either of the training workshops. Keeping it Real: The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Social Enterprise
January 26, 10:00am-12:00pm
Grace Place, 637 South Dearborn, Chicago
The second of a series of seminars on ways to promote communityeconomic development in lower-income neighborhoods, hosted by theChicago CRA Coalition and Woodstock Institute. Speakers include ConnieEvans, of Women’s Self Employment Project (WSEP) and Nancy Phillips, ofWomanCraft, Inc. To RSVP, contact Beverly Berryhill at (312) 427-8070or bhill@woodstockinst.org. Illinois Asset Building Group (IABG) Policy Committee Meeting
February 6, 1:00 - 3:00pm
Shriver Center, 50 E. Washington St., Suite 500
For more information, contact Jami Schlafer at jamischlafer@povertylaw.org or 312-368-8575.