Celebrating the Path to Self-Sufficiency

Twenty Sarasota County families who were homeless within the past five years recently celebrated a major milestone on their journey to financial self-sufficiency.

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The families completed the first phase of an 11-month program to improve their financial literacy and decision-making while they build the financial assets necessary to avoid a relapse into homelessness and emerge from generational poverty. The Financial Sustainability Initiative was developed in partnership by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and United Way Suncoast and launched in May.

The new initiative includes a unique combination of original financial-literacy workshops, one-on-one coaching by volunteers, incentives and reduced barriers to encourage client participation, and access to new financial products for families. The approach was developed after Gulf Coast and UWS scanned existing programs regionally and nationally to see what was working and what wasn’t.

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At a celebration on September 7 at the Salvation Army of Sarasota’s center for worship and service, families received certificates marking their “graduation” from the initial three-month phase of the initiative, along with incentive checks they had earned ranging from $375 to $450 for participating in workshops and coaching sessions. Through next April, the participants will continue meeting with their coaches at least once a month and attending specialized workshops on topics with which they need continued assistance. Meanwhile, two new cohorts with 30 total families will enter the initiative this fall.

Among progress indicators tracked by United Way Suncoast through the initiative’s first 10 workshops and coaching meetings:
•    100% of clients created and reviewed a budget with their coach
•    95% of clients refrained from using high-interest “payday” loans
•    94% of clients attended each workshop
•    85% of clients reviewed their credit scores with their coach
•    80% of clients had a checking account in good standing
•    45% found and secured new housing
•    25% enrolled in healthcare
•    25% enrolled in an education course (GED, ESL, or community college)

A New Approach to Financial Sustainability

Providing clients with access to financial products along with the knowledge and confidence to develop a positive relationship with the banking system are critical to them becoming self-sufficient, according to UWS Sarasota Area President Mireya Eavey. “The average individual without a checking account will spend $40,000 over their lifetime on financial fees,” says Eavey. “Access to bank accounts for these families may be the difference between building emergency savings and turning to high-cost debt.”

Initiative partner IBERIABANK opened matched savings accounts for the clients at one of the program’s first workshops. In April 2017, when the first group of clients complete the 11-month program, Gulf Coast Community Foundation will match deposits they have made into their accounts up to $500.

Other incentives and reduced barriers for clients were designed to encourage participation. For example, participants earned monetary incentives for each group workshop and individual coaching meeting they attended.  Hot meals and on-site professional childcare were provided before and during the evening workshops to make it easier for struggling families to attend. “Our families had a choice of receiving a gift card at each session they attended or getting a small incentive increase to instead receive a lump sum at the celebration,” notes Holly Bullard, director of Financial Stability for United Way Suncoast. “One hundred percent chose the latter.”

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Other partners in the initiative include the Salvation Army, Children First, and Junior Achievement. All 20 families in the first cohort of the initiative already worked with case managers at the Salvation Army and received housing assistance from the agency. The Salvation Army also hosted the financial-literacy workshops, served dinners, and provided additional character-building programs for families. Children First provided on-site childcare for an average of 34 children each workshop, and Junior Achievement offered financial-literacy programming for children while their parents participated in the workshops.

Participants in the next two cohorts of the initiative will be referred by the Salvation Army and Harvest House Transitional Centers. Both agencies are partners with Gulf Coast in the Family Haven Alliance, a collaboration of agencies that runs two emergency shelters and provides master case management for homeless families in crisis.
 


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