PATHWorks Newsletter: MAY 2019
Success Story - Employment - Finances - Asset Building - Community Events - Housing Works Updates - Resources
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Congratulations on Graduating Alivia D.!
Alivia started receiving rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher program in February, 2016. She joined the PATHWorks program in May, 2016. At that time, Alivia was a single mom with a young daughter and then later became a guardian for her teenage nephew. Alivia’s goals for the PATHWorks program were to become a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC), increase her credit score and prepare for homeownership.
When Alivia started PATHWorks, she was unable to pay her bills which was causing a lot of stress for her. She knew right away that she wanted to improve her financial management skills but was unsure how. The first step Alivia took was tracking her income, expenses, and spending habits, and creating a budget. What really helped Alivia was a tool she continues to use to this day-a bill calendar. The calendar showed her when bills were due and her written budget showed her she had the income to pay her bills. She even started paying some bills ahead of time!
Once Alivia took control of her finances, she started to pay down her debt. Alivia paid off over $5,000 of consumer debt in less than 3 years. This and other positive financial decisions on Alivia’s part led to her credit score increasing over 200 points. Her credit score is now in the 700's. Because of her decreased debt and increased credit score, Alivia qualified for a car loan with a less than 5% interest rate after she got into an automobile accident and totaled her car. This was a huge accomplishment for Alivia and was the proof to her of all her hard work paying off. In addition to paying off debt, Alivia also started saving in the VIDA 3:1 matched savings program and is saving for homeownership.
Alivia enrolled in school during her participation in the PATHWorks program and earned many certificates including, but not limited to, "Synthetic Drugs of Abuse" and "Addiction Pharmacology" to work towards her CADC. Because of her education and experience, Alivia was hired on full-time as a Certified Recovery Mentor at Turning Points Recovery Center. Recently, Alivia was promoted to a counseling position.
Alivia had an increase in household income that put her over-income for the Housing Choice Voucher program. She was able to release all financial assistance. Alivia graduated the PATHWorks program and received the funds in her escrow which she is saving for a down payment on a home.
Congratulations Alivia and keep up the great work!
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Dealing with Adversity at Work
“Why is it that some people thrive in the face of challenge and adversity at work, while others panic and withdraw into themselves? And why is it these same people who appear to get ahead while others tread water, or slowly drown in turbulent waters of life? (Centre for Confidence and Well-Being, 2006)"
We all have different levels of stress and challenges at work. It’s how we deal with these situations that can determine our happiness at work and our ability to cope and thrive in a work environment.
The key is to be resilient. Resiliency is the ability to bounce back or recover readily from illness, depression, adversity or the like according to its definition. Developing more resilience will help you address mistakes, overcome challenges and provide you the ability to move-on productively from whatever work throws at you. The good news is, "Developing resilience is a personal journey involving thoughts, behavior and actions. Anyone can do it."*
Follow this
link to find out 9 ways to improve your resilience.
*Barry Winbolt - Personal and Professional Development
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Reasons to Start Budgeting
Money plays a different role in each of our lives. It may be how much we have, how much we DON’T have, how much we want, or maybe we'd could forget about money all together. There is one tool that can help all of us – a personal budget. What is a budget and why is it important? These might be a few questions that float around when you hear the term. The word “budget” has been known to make skin crawl, send shivers down spines, and even bring fully grown adults to tears.
But it doesn’t have to be that way!
A
budget or, as I prefer to call it, a spending and savings plan is simply a tool used to estimate income and expenses for a set period of time with designated categories.
Here are five reasons you should start budgeting today. Budgeting can help you:
1) regain control of your money,
2) stop worrying about money,
3) stop going into debt,
4) stop the money fights, and
5) make your money work for you.
Click
here for more information.
Budgeting is important for achieving your financial goals, creating savings for unexpected expenses, getting out of and staying out of debt, relieving stress, having enough money for the things you need and want and having enough money for the future.
Take control of your money.
Don’t let it control you.
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CFPB Announces
Start Small, Save Up Initiative
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathleen L. Kraninger announced on February 25, 2019 an initiative to help promote the importance of savings among Americans. The “Start Small, Save Up” initiative offers tips, tools and information to help consumers build a basic savings cushion and saving habit, as a foundation for securing their financial futures.
“Our research finds that even small amounts of liquid savings can make a big difference,” Kraninger said. “Unfortunately, 40 percent of Americans could not cover even a $400 emergency expense out of their own liquid savings. Many national organizations are working to help people to build a foundation of basic savings and we are proud to join with them and support this effort.”
With the Start Small, Save Up initiative, the CFPB seeks to encourage consumers to create, maintain, and grow emergency savings accounts as part of their overall financial well-being. It offers resources that can help consumers begin an emergency savings account and establish a habit of saving. The Start Small, Save Up web page is available on
CFPB's Website.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau helps consumer finance markets work by identifying and addressing outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations, by making rules more effective, by consistently enforcing federal consumer financial law, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit
consumerfinance.gov.
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Thrive Updates
Thrive Central Oregon seeks to connect individual needs with community resources.
Individuals and families who are living in poverty are often in need of social services and support. A lack of knowledge of what the community has to offer, transportation and access barriers, and difficulty in navigating systems are primary reasons individuals and families are unable to access these community service supports. Thrive bridges the gap for community members, meeting them where they are in public spaces, providing vital connection to services and support that for many would otherwise not happen.
A few updates to note about Thrive:
- Thrive has expanded services to Madras, with thanks to a shared office with the Latino Community Association. You can find Thrive there on Tuesday's (see attached flyer or website for specifics).
- In addition to Madras, you can find Thrive's walk-in services in Redmond, Prineville, Bend and La Pine. They also take scheduled appointments in Redmond and Bend.
- Help us welcome Thrive's newest hire, Areli Morales! Areli has been a great addition to Thrive's staff and is providing services in English and Spanish at their Redmond and Madras sites.
- Working with someone that needs to directly connect with a Spanish speaker? Message Thrive through their website and Areli will reach out.
- Sending a referral their way? Please always check the website to ensure there are no unexpected closures or holidays.
- Distributing outreach flyers and information sheets? Please make sure you are sharing Thrive's most updated information. Thrive updates their site often as community resources are ever changing. Please be sure to share the most updated information so you don't accidentally misdirect folks.
- Thrive does not provide financial assistance, but they do work hard to help people find community resources that may be available to financially assist individuals and families with their needs. There is never a guarantee of funding.
- Thrive changed their website and email addresses. Please make a note of it!
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Grand Openings:
Ponderosa Heights and
Hawks View Estates
On Friday, April 12, 2019, Housing Works celebrated the grand openings of two new affordable properties in Sisters and La Pine. At 10AM, staff gathered with government officials, partners, sponsors, residents and community members to celebrate 48 new apartment homes at Ponderosa Heights in Sisters. About 40 people were in attendance as we heard from the Director of Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) Margaret Salazar, Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone, City of Sisters Councilor Andrea Blum, PNC Real Estate representative Matt Harrington, and Washington Federal representative Dave Huckins. Following the speakers, guests went outside to watch the ceremonial red ribbon cutting and then tour three apartments that were open for viewing.
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Margaret Salazar, Director of Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS).
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Many of the event guests and speakers then made their way over to La Pine for a similar celebration at Hawks View Estates. Hawks View Estates, located near the La Pine High School, has 42 new apartment homes. The community room at Hawks View Estates is twice as big as the one in Sisters, which was helpful because the event drew twice as many people! La Pine Mayor Daniel Richer and Housing Works Board Chair Michael Hinton joined speakers from OHCS, Deschutes County, PNC and Washington Federal. The event in La Pine was especially significant because Hawks View Estates is the first affordable property built by Housing Works in La Pine. The ribbon cutting was set with the community playground and courtyard in the background. Again three homes were available for viewing by event guests.
With these properties open and completely leased up and occupied, Housing Works now has over 1,000 affordable homes in our portfolio. We will continue to develop new properties as funding permits. Check our future newsletters for updates on upcoming developments in Redmond and Madras.
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Welcome Kervin Villalobos, HQS Inspector
Please join us in welcoming Kervin Villalobos as the new Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspector at Housing Works! Kervin is taking over for Emily Loza who served in this position for the last five years. We wish Emily the best of luck in her new adventures and will miss her greatly!
Kervin is really excited to be part of the Housing Works team. His parents moved to Central Oregon when he was seven years old from Los Angeles, California and he has made his life here and plans to spend his future in Central Oregon. He studied criminal justice in college but his passion changed when he began working in the medical field where he worked for over five years. During that time, he worked as a Community Health Worker and connected with clients. Through this experience, Kervin began seeing other ways that he could help connect patients to various resources such as Housing Works. Kervin said "I feel privileged to now be able to continue to help families and work closely with everyone here at Housing Works in assisting people who are in need."
Kervin enjoys spending time with his wife and son doing all kinds of activities that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. During the winter, he is often snowboarding at Mt. Hoodoo or Mt. Bachelor and during the summer he is an avid mountain biker. He also has a passion for producing music.
Kervin is looking forward to meeting our Housing Choice Voucher clients and property managers, as well as working with the Housing Works family.
To contact Kervin:
email him at: kervinv@housing-works.org
or call him at: (541) 323-7417
Él habla Español!
Welcome to the team Kervin!
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EMPLOYMENT
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
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