A United Way program offers Idahoans a leg up by helping them save for college tuition, a first house or a small business.
By Anna Webb, Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 08/11/08
Handing over your tuition check, knowing your next semester of college is paid for, free and clear, would be a thrill for anyone.
But when Shon Vanhoozer did it last week at Boise State, that thrill was even bigger. It was more like the completion of a long-term group project.
Representatives from the United Way of Treasure Valley and Catholic Charities showed up, along with Vanhoozer's wife, Huidan Vanhoozer, who also is a student. Everyone pulled out cameras and snapped pictures.
Shon Vanhoozer, 32, is the first person in the community to get a boost from United Way's Individual Development Account program - or IDA.
For more than a year, he's been working his way through the program, which aims to help working Idahoans with modest incomes establish financial security by helping them save for one of three things: buying a first house, getting a secondary education or starting a small business.
"Those are the things that create stability in the long run," said Melissa Nickell, who oversees the IDA program as director of community impact investment at United Way.
Vanhoozer tests printers full-time at Hewlett-Packard. Having a stable income source is one requirement to participate in IDA. Participants also have to make regular deposits in a savings account, meet regularly with a caseworker and complete 10 hours of financial education on topics like understanding credit scores, maintaining good credit and home ownership.
"If participants get assets, like an education, or a house, we want them to have the knowledge to care for those assets," said Nickell.
United Way and its community partners are making their own serious cash investments in program participants. |
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION |
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WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
To be eligible to apply for the Individual Development Accounts program, you must:
- Be at least 16 years old
- Be resident of the
- Live in Idaho
- Have a stable source of earned income
- Have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and household net worth of lesss than $10,000 (excluding an owned home and one vehicle)
OR
- Be eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Earned income Tax Credit
For more information and to find out if you qualify, call United Way at 208.336.1070 Ext. 100
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A five-year federal grant for $500,000 and matching funds from donations let United Way deposit $2 for every $1 that program participants deposit over the course of the program, up to $2,000, for a maximum of $6,000 - a nice head start on asset-building.
Without the tuition help, "We'd be in trouble," Vanhoozer said, "or at least in debt. Tuition is pretty high these days."
He's a newlywed. His wife, Huidan, immigrated from China and is studying for a degree in accounting. They met in China when Vanhoozer traveled there with his sister, who works for an adoption agency. Huidan was their interpreter. Vanhoozer wants to study biology while continuing to work at HP.
"Biology goes back to that basic question. 'Who are we? Where do we come from?' " he said.
The IDA program taught him something about who he is, at least.
"I'm more responsible than I originally thought. I've always been anti-authoritarian, anti-disciplinary, 'go with the flow,' 'whatever happens, happens,' " he said.
But it turns out he's frugal, something he has in common with Huidan, who grew up in a Chinese village. And he's good at saving money.
"It was funny, at first, making deposits. None of the bankers knew what was going on. 'IDA? What are you talking about?' They had to go get their supervisors," Vanhoozer said.
The program is still small. One hundred and seventeen Idahoans are participating, up from only seven in January. And there's enough funding for more.
Marcia Munden, family strengthening worker at Catholic Charities, is Vanhoozer's IDA case worker. She helps her 26 IDA clients develop saving schedules during their time in the program.
Munden said the IDA targets working people with defined goals who can use a helping hand but who may be ineligible for most programs because they have a job. The IDA has income requirements, but they're set at a high enough level that working families can participate.
"This reaches those folks who are at the edge of falling either way - either building assets and being productive, or falling the other direction and struggling, needing other kinds of assistance," Munden said.
IDAs started appearing in the early 1990s, generally created by nonprofit organizations or local government departments, but for-profit groups, like banks, also have created IDA programs.
Thirty-three states currently have laws on the books governing IDAs.
Participants can stay in the Idaho program between six months and two years, Nickell said.
"The goal is to lift families into a more stable and self-sufficient situation, so that after two years they will have a livable wage."
Anna Webb: 377-6431