Alliance For National Renewal
A collaboration between NEFE and the Alliance for National Renewal (ANR) produced the Financial Literacy Center, a Web site that served as an electronic repository of financial education information for ANR members, who could use the site to peruse summaries of available programs, request samples, or order programs online.
The online center contained descriptions of some of the top financial literacy programs from community, government, and nonprofit organizations, including NEFE. All programs were created to help underserved American populations learn and apply basic principles of financial management.
To help the homeless and other disadvantaged individuals rebuild life skills, the
National Endowment and the Association of Gospel Rescue Ministries (RESCUE) partnered to produce a faith-based financial literacy curriculum that focused on making informed choices concerning health, housing, employment, income, and personal finances.
The curriculum, Turning Toward Prosperity: A Guide for Personal and Financial Growth, offered information on money and life management. The participant workbook contained chapters on getting a job, making better money choices, deciding on housing, goal setting, and more.
Association for Enterprise Opportunity
All businesses—big and small—start with ideas and energy. To help underserved entrepreneurs organize their personal and business finances so they can make fledgling businesses successful, the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) and NEFE put together Financial Planning for Your Microenterprise, a 64-page booklet.
The booklet provided information about cash flow, spending plans, setting aside financial reserves, and business planning and financing. Chapter topics included establishing goals, the debt trap, writing a business plan, financial skills for microentrepreneurs, insurance and taxes, networking, and getting help with business expansion.
Corporation for Enterprise Development and Fannie Mae Foundation
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), which help people accumulate savings by matching funds from public and private sources to support specific personal and business goals, are part of a growing movement to facilitate economic development in low-income communities.
The nonprofit Corporation For Enterprise Development (CFED) has been the primary national proponent of IDA programs since their inception. CFED approached NEFE about partnering to fill a major gap in the current IDA framework: a lack of training in personal finance.
The final collaboration included CFED, NEFE, and the Fannie Mae Foundation, which helped to provide affordable homeownership across the country. The result was a core curriculum on personal finance, designed and developed by NEFE, entitled Finding Paths to Prosperity. The curriculum covered basic financial topics such as "Financial Literacy and Money Management" and "How to Find the Money to Save."
CFED forwarded copies of the material to IDA sites across the United States. The curriculum also is available through the CFED's Internet IDA Learning Network.
Enterprise Foundation
Making Your Money Count: How to Successfully Spend and Save Your Money featured information on the essentials of personal finance for low-income job seekers in workforce development programs. The guide was created by NEFE and the Enterprise Foundation for job-training organizations, job seekers, human resources staff, and governmental agencies. The handbook covered topics such as understanding deductions from paychecks, the advantages of a having a checking account, understanding and utilizing job benefits, creating written goals, using credit wisely, establishing a spending plan, and saving for the future.
The Enterprise Foundation distributed copies of the Making Your Money Count guide to organizations that assist low-income job seekers.
Goodwill Industries International Inc./Bank of America Good Sen$e Initiative
Most people dream of buying a house or new car, sending their children to college, or even getting the training and education needed for a better-paying job. Sometimes, though, everyday bills and financial responsibilities get in the way of those hopes.
The Good Sen$e Initiative, a project of Goodwill Industries, Bank of America, and NEFE recognized that if people become stronger money managers, they could stop putting off their financial goals. Building Financial Stability & Strength, a 64-page guide, empowered people to start realizing their dreams by working through a series of worksheets, taking advantage of numerous resources, and learning about budgeting and smart spending, cutting expenses, saving and borrowing, and investing.
National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU) enlisted NEFE to help members and potential members, most of whom were in minority communities, develop the knowledge and skills to manage their money and confront the financial challenges before them. Your Path to Financial Freedom offered a no-nonsense approach to managing limited finances for both the short and long term. Information was grouped by topic and each topic section included an explanation of concepts and options, one or more real-life examples, and worksheets and/or exercises to reinforce the material.
NEFE also developed a companion Facilitator's Guide, to be used in related seminars and at NFCDCU's Community Development Credit Union Institute.
National Fuel Funds Network
Home ownership comes with rewards—and responsibilities, including paying for monthly energy, water, and sewer bills. With utility costs on the rise, many people fall behind on their utility bills or fail to pay them at all.
To help first-time homeowners and other participants in affordable housing programs stay on track with utility bills, the National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN) and NEFE published Owning Is Just the Beginning: Learning to Budget the Utility Costs of Your New Home. This primer on utility costs included tips on understanding utility fees and how they fit into an overall personal financial plan. Resources for getting help also were provided.
Operation Frontline/Share Our Strength
NEFE participated in two projects with Operation Frontline, a program of Share Our Strength. Operation Frontline is carried out in several cities across the country and sponsors Eating Right classes to help low-income individuals create nutritious, tasty, and low-cost meals. NEFE wove food budgeting and other personal finance material into the Eating Right curriculum. The themes were expanded in the booklet Spending and Saving Smart, which accompanied the curriculum and introduced core financial concepts—such as separating needs from wants, reducing expenses, developing financial goals, coping with debt, and shopping smart.
NEFE also collaborated with Share Our Strength to develop a presentation seminar curriculum, Your Money, Your Choices, and made it available to Operation Frontline coordinators. The curriculum provided information on paychecks, employee benefits, savings and credit, and smart shopping.
The Earning and Learning Your Way to Your Goals guide was developed by NEFE and Volunteers of America (VOA) to help improve basic money management skills. Designed as an eight-week course, this program taught participants how to track their expenses, recognize and avoid money traps, use credit wisely, make a spending plan, save regularly, open a checking account, balance a checkbook, understand paycheck deductions, and write checks.
NEFE developed two newsletters—Financial Literacy I: The First Six Months on the Job and Financial Literacy II: Six Months on the Job and Beyond—to assist human resources professionals in placing welfare recipients in jobs in the private sector. The newsletters, produced in collaboration with The Welfare to Work Partnership and Citigroup, provided information on the financial issues facing employees receiving public assistance.
The publications provided employers with creative ideas for educating their employees on personal financial management, including connecting employees with financial experts, establishing a resource center, assisting with childcare and transportation options, and starting a mentoring program within the company. The newsletters broke down complicated financial topics—such as job benefits, financial sinkholes, such as pawnshops and payday lenders, and long-term financial management concepts—into easy-to-follow tip sheets and checklists.
Women in Community Service and Bank of America
A three-way partnership among NEFE, Women in Community Service, Inc. (WICS), and Bank of America created the guide Making Money, Making Change. The project combined the expertise of the organizations to create a uniquely focused resource for low-income individuals and those making the move from poverty to financial stability.
Eight chapters explained setting goals, establishing bank accounts, budgeting, saving and investing, exploring insurance options, and obtaining legal assistance. Graphically highlighted "factoids" presented tips on saving and money management. A special reference section provided a list of relevant organizations, books, government agencies, and Web sites.
Women Work!/Bank of America
Many women who struggle with poverty, face family problems, or go through a divorce or other major life changes may need help with money management skills in order to stay off welfare and remain productive members of society.
That was why Women Work!, Bank of America, and NEFE joined forces to offer Making Money Work! This booklet took women in need through a six-step money management process so that they could take advantage of choices and realize their dreams. Topics included assessing your relationship with money, reviewing your finances, creating a spending plan, working with different types of bank accounts, preparing for retirement, and protecting your finances.
NEFE Project Coaches Women to Dress for Success as They Enter Workforce
Women transitioning to the workforce from welfare or other poverty situations can gain financial literacy training and coaching and employment tips from Steps to Success: A Guide to Success in the Workplace. This 64-page booklet is sponsored by Dress for Success and the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®).
Main Low Income Projects
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