Welcome to the blog of the Personal Investment Enterprise Program! The Personal Investment Enterprise Program is a local savings program provided through Community Action Programs of Boulder County and Foothills United Way that is designed for low-income families to save toward first-time homeownership, post-secondary education, small business capitalization and Early Child Care Education or bilingual childcare (* Participants must be bilingual).
The program allows individuals to open savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA’s) and gain training toward their asset purchase. The program matches the savings of the family or individual up to $4 for every $1 deposited by the participant. Maximum savings of $750 are combined with matched funds of $3,000 to provide a total of $3,750 to be used for the purchase of the asset.
This blog will provide resources for program participants to add to the financial tools that they gain from financial classes and give program updates. In addition, we will provide program updates, such as new community partnerships, and feature new funding sources. This will also be an opportunity to share how participants have been able to benefit from saving through the PIE program.
Introducing PIE’s Program Coordinators
Nino has been a Program Coordinator for Boulder County Community Action Programs (CAP) since January 2000. Before joining CAP, he was a Housing Manager for Boulder County Housing Authority for five years. He is bilingual, and his background is accounting and housing management. Currently, Nino enrolls participants through holding orientations, providing intake appointments, schedules training opportunities and processes check requests.
Rosemary is the PIE Program Coordinator at Foothills United Way. She has a background in affordable housing and has worked with Habitat for Humanity as an Americorps VISTA member and as a staff member for over 9 years. She now assists individuals in saving through the PIE program by writing grants for matching funds, reviewing the status of each participant’s account and processing purchase requests.
We call this blog Easy as PIE, because once you have the right tools and experience, PIE is easy to make. And so it is with savings. With the right tools and advice, saving can be easy. We hope that the tools provided here will make saving even easier.
For this month, we would like to encourage you to visit the Smart About Money website, provided by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). NEFE is a non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the information and gain the skills necessary to take control of their personal finances. Smart About Money features a guide to financial wellness, financial calculators, economic survival tips, and a section for investing in your future.
Contact information:
If you know any individuals or families who would be interested in the PIE program, please visit http://www.bouldercountypie.org for qualification information. You may also contact Nino Gallo, PIE program Coordinator at Boulder County Community Action Programs at 303-441-3998 or ngallo@bouldercounty.org or Rosemary Thompson, PIE program Coordinator at Foothills United Way at 303-444-4013 X 111 or rthompson@unitedwayfoothills.org
We welcome your comments as this blog develops. Please contact us via phone or e-mail listed above. We hope that this blog will be valuable as you continue to save and/or follow the PIE program happenings.
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