Community Asset Building Corp Seeks Volunteers

Wy'East RC & D Area Council, Inc. 625 S.E. Salmon Rd. Suite 4, Redmond, OR 97756-9580, 541-923-4358 x104 www.wyeast-rcd.org

For more information contact: Merlin Berg 541-296-2391 Lonnie James 541-553-3118 Debbe Chadwick 541-923-4358 x104

Community Asset Building Corp Seeks Volunteers

Wy’East Resource Conservation and Development Council has initiated a project to help eligible families and individuals to cultivate their assets in a multitude of ways. Wy’East is partnering with the Warm Springs Community Action Team and the Oregon Microenterprise Network to place two AmeriCorps VISTA Asset Building Corps volunteers in communities in Central and Mid-Columbia region in Oregon. Lonnie James, the Wy’East president says, “We are focusing efforts to help people deal with relevant issues such as their ability to stay in their community, deal with the lack of opportunity by bringing the access to assets to them and assist them to develop skills that will help them flourish in the future”. The project will focus on making the eligible families and individuals aware of individual development accounts. Individual development accounts are matched savings accounts that enable families and individuals to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream. The match dollars for the individual development account can come from a variety of sources, such as government program, private employers, faith-based organizations, and private foundations. Individual development accounts multiply the monthly savings of eligible families who are building towards purchasing an asset - most commonly buying their first home, paying for college or vocational education, or starting a small business. Individual development accounts make it possible for families to build the financial assets they need to achieve self-sufficiency. Financial education is an important part of all individual development programs. Wy’East recruits participants for this program, provides financial education classes, and provide one-on-one counseling and to participants through the AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers. Program participants are required to attend a certain number of classes to learn about creating and managing household budgets, using credit responsibly, the basics of saving and investing, saving for retirement, and much more. Through the partnership network, participants can receive home buying training and counseling, small business development courses and mentoring, and education-related financial aid counseling. Wy’East is seeking two volunteers to serve as AmeriCorps VISTAs for one year to help individuals and families attain self-sufficiency. The AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers are required to be either experienced volunteers (3 years), have work experience in the field in which they are serving, or to have a college degree. Volunteers serve full time for a year with Wy’East. Upon successful completion of service volunteers receive an education award of $4,725 to pay for college, graduate school, or to pay back student loans. During their service volunteers receive a modest living allowance of $9,300, health insurance, training, and in some cases student loan deferment. For more information about the opportunity to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer visit the Wy’East web site at www.wyeast-rcd.org or call Debbe Chadwick at 541-923-4358 x104