Individual Wealth Building

MODELS & BEST PRACTICES

Bay Area Asset Support Center (San Francisco, CA)
www.assetpolicy.org/supportcenter-search.php
The Bay Area Asset Support Center aims to expand asset-building opportunities for low-and moderate-income residents of San Francisco Bay Area communities. The Asset Support Center provides technical assistance to advance local initiatives, convenes, practitioners to share promising practices, works to build a base of support for public policy reforms, and is creating an online database of strategies underway across the region.

Capital Area Asset Building Corporation (Washington, DC)
www.caab.org
Founded in 1996, this organization successfully lobbied the government of the District of Columbia to pass an IDA program. In 2004, it receive its first DC grant of $200,000 to begin offering matched savings grants to income-qualified participants.

Community Action Project of Tulsa (Tulsa, OK)
www.captc.org
Founded in 1973, the Community Action Project of Tulsa has been a national leader in asset-based efforts. Through its Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Campaign and free tax preparation services, CAP served 14,314 clients during the 2004 tax season, resulting in $19.3 million in tax refunds. CAP was also one of thirteen national sites of the American Dream Demonstration project, which tested the viability of individual development accounts on a national scale.

Covenant Community Capital (Houston, TX)
www.covenantcapital.org
Covenant Community Capital Corporation (Covenant), founded in 1998, is a nonprofit organization that seeks to enhance the beauty, safety, and economic vitality of low-income communities by increasing their capacity to develop affordable housing, grow business enterprises, and build family and community assets. As of the summer of 2005, the group has over 500 people in their IDA program, including disbursing $138,000 in match payments to 77 pepole who have completed the program and made investments in home ownership (53), education (18), or capitalizing a small business (6).

Foundation Communities (Austin, TX)
www.foundcom.org
This non-profit has managed an IDA program (click on link to “Our Savings Program”) that so far has assisted 105 families to fund a downpayment, college education, or small business by helping them to accumulate up to $5,400 in savings over a 3-year period ($1,800 contributed by the family with a $3,600 match).

Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (Grand Rapids, MI)
www.growbusiness.org
Founded in 1989, GROW is a non-profit organization dedicated to assist women in the Grand Rapids region start up their own businesses. Among their many programs is an IDA program (see www.growbusiness.org/ida.html), which matches savings on at least a 1:1 basis. All IDA program participants must also attend financial literacy classes.