2014 Civic Engagement Institute “Leveraging Campus Partnerships to Build Community

Engagement and Services”

Donna Gallagher

February 4, 2013

•Mission: Promote economic security for low income individuals and families through savings and financial education programming •Vision: People in all 100 counties have access to financial education and savings opportunities

Partnerships with Nonprofits and Community Institutions •Savings programming •Financial education •Program development and impact measurement •Capacity building •Community outreach •Individual development accounts

North Carolina Assets Alliance To educate the public and policymakers about the importance of assets

•82 organizations •Lead agency for national CFED Assets & Opportunity Network •“Prosperity Grid for North Carolina” •9 Economic Security Forums 2009-2011

Community-Based Asset-Building: Creation of local asset-building coalitions; with our partners, over 22,000 people received financial education in 2012

Charlotte Winston-Salem Greensboro Hillsborough Chapel Hill

Durham Kinston Rich Square

Creating the Economically Secure Workforce Benefits employers in Durham, Wake, Wayne and Pitt counties

Getting banked, automatic savings, accumulating assets, financial coaching

Access to affordable financial services

Free for employers and employees, funded through a grant from the Citi Foundation

Two new projects

Learn to Earn Raleigh

Youth Financial Education with a parent

Incentives for attendance and participation

Goal setting

Savings match

Funding from City of Raleigh: This federal Community Development Block Grant grant is partially funded through the City of Raleigh based on recommendation of the City Council.

Two new projects

Having a savings account, a college education, a home, work skills, or a small business can help individuals and families:

live securely today;

weather difficult financial times and cash shortages;

Avoid predatory lenders/cycles of poverty;

plan for the future; and

pass assets on to the next generation.

Why Financial Education and Savings?

Connecting Households and Communities to Economic Opportunity

PROSPERITY GRID =

POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS, ORGANIZATIONS DELIVER ECONOMIC SECURITY

Assets can make the difference between getting by and getting ahead.

Increasingly, we are recognizing the need to address asset inequality, which is much greater than income inequality, in order to address poverty long-term.

Connecting Households and Communities to Economic Opportunity

Research Shows

WORKING DOES NOT GUARANTEE ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR MANY

NORTH CAROLINIANS

• More than ¾ of NC jobs pay below the Living Income Standard (204% of poverty level)

•42% of NC workers lack paid sick days

• 18.9% lack health insurance

• 60% lack an employer-provided pension

One in five households live in asset poverty with

insufficient savings to remain about the federal

poverty level for three months without earned

income.

Action for Children North Carolina

There are an estimated 472,000 households in North Carolina that do not have any kind of bank or credit union account.

Source:EstimatesfromthePewCharitableTrust’sSafeBankingOpportunitiesProject,basedon

datafromtheU.S.CensusBureau,theFederalReserve’s2004SurveyofConsumerFinances,andtheNorthCarolinaCommissionerofBanks.

The unbanked in North Carolina

According to the Brookings Institution, the cost of not being banked, and using alternative financial products, is approximately $40,000 over a working career.

The unbanked in North Carolina

All Americans should have the opportunity to make the choices that allow them to live a long, healthy life, regardless of their income, education or ethnic background.

Creating our own individual journey means reading the roadmap and charting the course.

•Messages are everywhere •Lives are complex •Financial decisions have lasting affects on our future

Opportunities for community responsiveness by University Communities ◦ Community engagement and services ◦ Responsiveness to local economies ◦ Preparation for workforce ◦ Educating the state’s future leaders

Challenges ◦ Student retention ◦ College affordability ◦ Community engagement and services

HBCU Savings Showdown ◦ Partnered with Fifth Third Bank to provide free credit

reports and credit scores ◦ Offered classes on credit, homeownership, identity theft,

and savings ◦ Over 10,000 students were reached

258 signed up to be NC Savers

103 free credit reports

North Carolina A & T State University—Greensboro, NC

St. Augustine’s-Raleigh, NC

Johnson C. Smith—Charlotte, NC

University of North Carolina Greensboro BEYOND ACADEMICS ◦ Partnership since 2010 with VISTA placement

◦ Financial education and savings capacity building for students

◦ Greensboro Asset Building Coalition

Formation of community partners committee

Recruitment of volunteers

Leadership/Priorities for the volunteer committees

Regular convening

Duke and Durham Saves: February 24-28, 2014

Duke University Personal Finance Class ◦ Building the Economically Secure Workforce

◦ Outreach to local employers

◦ Financial education:

Credit

Spending Plans

Getting banked

Savings Plans

Economic Security Forums-9 Forums between 2009-2011 ◦ Martin County Community College

◦ North Carolina Central University

◦ East Carolina University

Pathways to Prosperity Conference October 16-17, 2013, Sheraton RTP

Goals: • To share innovations and vision in research and policy, showcasing best

practices in the asset-development field, • To better understand how community organizations can work

collaboratively to integrate efforts that provide economic mobility and opportunity for all,

• To connect diverse community leaders, and • To provide skills and tools for practitioners serving low-to-moderate

income people

Reaching the Summit of Success: Transition to higher education and work first for persons with disabilities

◦ Three summits last fall in Charlotte, Wilmington and

Raleigh

◦ Options that Community Colleges provide for students with I/DD

◦ Policy and procedural linkages to high school and individual education plans

◦ Financial sustainability over the long term

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program in Charlotte through Community Link—VISTA placed for 3 years to build capacity in the program ◦ Interns recruit and train volunteers from businesses ◦ Colleges and Universities provide meeting/training

space ◦ Interns are from: Johnson C. Smith

Johnson and Wales

University of North Carolina Charlotte

Charlotte School of Law

Financial opportunity models to integrate services with the goals of needed services all provided at the same time ◦ Job training

◦ Financial Education

◦ Connections to public benefits

Learning communities—carrying the network forward together ◦ Intentional connections

Referral, partnerships, collaborations

◦ Capacity building and thought partnerships

◦ Performance management and evaluation

◦ Community Outcomes, not just program outcomes

SuccessNet at DesMoines Area Community College ◦ 3 campuses--Target barriers to college success: low

income, ESL learners, No High School completion, unemployed, ex-offenders, displaced workers, single parents (www.dmacc.edu)

◦ Workforce and Career Services ◦ Income and Work Supports ◦ Financial Services and Asset Building

◦ Customized screening allows each partnering

organization to merge intake with SuccessNet, while maintaining compliance with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Center for Families and Students at Gateway Community College in New Haven, CT (gatewayCT.edu) ◦ Academic Advising ◦ Career planning and pre-employment referrals ◦ Emergency Financial Assistance ◦ Pre-screening for benefits: health insurance, utility

assistance, food stamps, housing assistance ◦ Financial education and credit repair ◦ Free Income Tax Preparation Referrals ◦ Emergency transportation assistance ◦ Ex-offender assistance ◦ Legal assistance

For students only

MDC, Durham, NC Working Families Success Strategy College Implementation Guide

www.wfsncollegeguide.org

This implementation guide is designed to be used by community college leaders, faculty and staff who are interested in starting or expanding a Working Families Success effort at their institution. The guide can be read from start to finish or accessed at different points depending how far along your college is.

Thinking about how to do the outreach/services/implementation

REFER

PARTNER

DO-IT-YOURSELF

REFER--Less resource intensive, relies on the capacity of other organizations ◦ Clients travel to another location, limiting take-up

of services

◦ Partners may have different goals and outcomes

◦ Services may not be a good fit for clients

PARTNER-Deeper relationships maximizes strengths of each organization, sharing clients; Co-location (one-stop) increases uptake of services; Co-branding with other organizations and centralized services for a holistic approach ◦ Compromise and give up autonomy

◦ Partnerships take time to establish

Do-It-Yourself: Ensure that goals and outcomes meet your school’s mission and services can be provided in one location ◦ Resource intensive to build capacity

◦ Staff support and training

◦ Community duplication of services

What can you do?

• What are the needs in your community and who does that assessment?

• Map the landscape—who does what?

• Attend community meetings • Meet with faculty and administrators

• Enlist students’ muscles

EDUCATE YOURSELF AROUND ASSET-BUILDING:

• Like us on FaceBook: TheCollaborativeofNC, North Carolina Saves, and North Carolina Assets Alliance

• Join our mailing list: www.cultureofsavings.org, www.ncassets.org

• Become a North Carolina Saver: www.northcarolinasaves.org

• Follow us on twitter:#cultureofsavngs

THANK YOU!

Donna Gallagher Executive Director

IDA and Asset Building Collaborative of NC Donna@cultureofsavings.org

919-248-2000 www.cultureofsavings.org