FreshMinistries' IDA program partners with United Way

An IDA participant shows off a photo of her new home, purchased with money saved in the 2-to-1 matched saving program, Individual Development Account.

FreshMinistries is partnering with United Way to incorporate its fully enrolled matched-savings-program, Individual Development Accounts, with United Way’s RealSense Prosperity Campaign. By partnering the 4-year-old IDA program with the RealSense Prosperity Campaign, program participants will have access to a complete three-step program designed to help them achieve financial independence. The three-step RealSense Prosperity Campaign program now includes financial education classes, free tax preparation and Earned Income Tax Credit counseling, and the 2-to-1 matched savings IDA program. United Way assumes responsibility for the management of the 140 IDA accounts and ongoing participant counseling.

The three-step program helps those with less make more:

1. Managing Your Money! – an eight-part money management course that covers topics such as the family budget, fixing your credit, using bank accounts, saving for the future and achieving financial goals. Using the Money Smart program, a person can quickly learn how to better manage their money and take steps toward achieving their financial dreams.

2. Getting The Money Back You’ve Already Earned – free income tax return preparation by volunteers knowledgeable of the details of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). EITC gives substantial refunds to lower income workers who meet certain government guidelines.

3. Multiply Your Money – Individual Development Accounts –
provides two dollars for every dollar saved. As a result, an eligible person who saves $2,000 over two years would receive an additional $4,000 toward one of three major life goals, buying a home, going to college or starting a business. There are income requirements and the account is restricted to those three goals.

For further information, call 904.355.0000

---