Assets for Independence (AFI) is a community-based approach for giving low-income families a hand up out of poverty. Utilizing existing individual and community assets, AFI strengthens communities from within by participants saving earned income through the use of matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA).<\/p>\n
The recently announced AFI program at Delta State University\u2019s Center for Community and Economic Development is through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.<\/p>\n
The program is designed to assist eligible current or prospective students by improving their economic situation, providing strategies for long term savings behavior, and helping them pay for education or other costs associated with it.<\/p>\n
All eligible participants will complete financial literacy training and save $500 over a period of 6-18 months with a minimum deposit of $25 per month. The IDA program can match a student\u2019s savings with $4,000 in grants and scholarship funds after their fulfillment of the program\u2019s commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is an excellent way to teach college students about the importance of saving, and educate them about the benefits and risks of credit and how to be responsible with their finances,\u201d said David Tanner, AFI program coordinator. \u201cThe eight-to-one match is unusually generous, so much so that potential participants can\u2019t quite believe it\u2019s true. Believe me, it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shera Phillips, an AmeriCorps*VISTA member serving with the program, believes that financial education is extremely important.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpening an IDA is simply investing in the future,\u201d said Phillips. \u201cI know a few people who wish they could finish their college degree but can\u2019t due to outstanding balances. This initiative can really help low-income students who are in danger of not finishing their degree due to financial reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
AFI is located at the Center for Community and Economic Development at 1417 College Street in Cleveland, on the outskirts of Delta State\u2019s campus. Those interested in learning more about the program should call 662-846-4808 or email dtanner@deltastate.edu<\/a> or sphillips@deltastate.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Assets for Independence (AFI) is a community-based approach for giving low-income families a hand up out of poverty. Utilizing existing individual and community assets, AFI strengthens communities from within by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":60711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[704,1424],"class_list":["post-60710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-center-for-community-and-economic-development","tag-assets-for-independence","tag-center-for-community-and-economic-development"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60710"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60713,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60710\/revisions\/60713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}