Moving from Debt to Assets

01/09/2015

01/09/2015

Four months ago, Dorchester resident Fabienne Eliacin was far from achieving her dream of owning her own home. With a credit score stuck in the low 600s, no bank would even think about giving her a mortgage at a reasonable rate. On December 10, at a graduation of her class in the Moving from Debt to Assets program, Eliacin was able to stand in front of her fellow graduates, their families, and program supporters and announce proudly that, with a Purchase and Sale Agreement now being reviewed by the lawyers, she was about to see her dream of home ownership come true. After boosting her credit score with help from Moving from Debt to Assets and finding a home in the Dudley Village community, she was on her way to becoming a homeowner.
Eliacin’s story of financial success was one of three by graduates on the topic of “How Moving from Debt to Assets Made a Difference in my Life” shared at the graduation of class number 47 in this program. “It’s not just my story,” said Eliacin. “Every person in this class had the opportunity to turn their life around, to make a change, whether it is small or big. This program gave them hope!” Moving from Debt to Assets is a financial education program that is committed to helping people make long-lasting changes in the way that they manage money. It focuses its attention on low-income, under-served communities and is offered in six different languages.
This graduation marked an important milestone. It is the first Moving from Debt to Assets class to graduate as part of the Choice Neighborhood Initiative. The Choice Neighborhood Initiative, a project of the Department of Neighborhood Development of the City of Boston and funded by HUD, with a long list of active non-profit partners, is focused on the area around Quincy Street in Dorchester where 129 units of affordable housing and a new commercial enterprise are being developed.
This Initiative is part of a new strategic approach intended to help transform high-poverty, distressed neighborhoods into communities with healthy, affordable housing, safe streets, and access to quality educational opportunities. As part of this Initiative, the City of Boston has funded ESOL classes, Adult Basic Education, an after-school program, and, through Moving from Debt to Assets, financial asset-building/financial education.
The graduation of Class 47 brought the total number of graduates in Moving from Debt to Assets to 936. The event was held in the brand new Quincy Heights Community Room constructed by developer Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation as part of the Quincy Heights project. This class was made possible by support from the Mayor’s Office of Jobs & Community Services of the City of Boston.
Fabienne Eliacin, far left, pictured with other graduates of the Moving from Debt to Assets program - photo by Jaypix

08/12/2014

We are happy to have learned that Moving from Debt to Assets has been awarded a grant by the Santander Bank Foundation. This second year of support has contributed to our track record of changing lives through financial education. Thanks to funders like Santander, we have now graduated a total of 923 program participants and run 46 groups, in 6 different languages. We are grateful to Santander for making it possible for more individuals and families to build strong financial futures.

07/31/2014

BIDMC Today

Moving from Debt to Assets Class puts Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Employees on the Road to Economic Self-Sufficiency

Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley inspires graduates
• Date: 7/18/2014
• BIDMC Contact: Kelly Lawman
• Phone: 617-667-7305
• Email: [email protected]

BOSTON – Sara Dayton knew she needed to get control over her debt, but like so many others, she was scared to face it. “And then walking to my office, I saw a poster for the Moving from Debt to Assets class and I decided to sign up,” she recalls. “Little did I know how much it would help me.” Bolstered by the coaching and peer support offered in the class, Dayton, an administrative assistant in the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), mustered the courage to negotiate a lower monthly payment with her student loan provider, a move that got her back on a regular payment schedule and improved her credit score an impressive twelve points.
Sponsored by the Department of Workforce Development, Moving from Debt to Assets is a six week course designed to, as instructor Jameel Webb-Davis puts it, “turn on the lights in that dark, scary room called debt.”

The program was developed by Moving from Debt to Assets, Inc. a local non-profit dedicated to helping families build strong financial futures. Course participants receive three one-on-one counseling sessions with a financial advisor. “There are also six classes that everyone attends to learn more about some basics around managing money,” said Joel Schwartz, Executive Director, Moving from Debt to Assets, Inc. That work includes support with credit card management, retirement planning, negotiating service contracts and developing investment strategies.
“Going forward over the course of this next year, the 21 graduates will also have six peer support sessions to help each other on this journey toward financial stability,” said Workforce Development Program Administrator Babak Bagheral.
“We think the skills learned in this class are important for all our employees,” said Workforce Development Director Joanne Pokaski. “Our wish for everyone who takes the course is economic self-sufficiency and peace of mind.”
“I’m happy to say that I’m now paying my bills on time and I’m shopping for where to open a savings account,” said Valerie Martinez, an administrative assistant in the Spine Center. “I’m finally taking control of my life.”
This is the second time the course has been offered at BIDMC. Malika Whitley, a medical lab technician in Microbiology is a graduate of the first session. Whitley was asked to return, this time around as a course assistant and mentor to her colleagues.
“The first day I walked in and saw the look on everyone’s face, it brought tears to my eyes because it reminded me of what I looked like when I started,” said Whitley. She says she took the class to clean up her financial lifestyle and recalls writing down three goals on a piece of paper. They were saving to buy a house, setting up a college savings plan for her son and establishing an emergency fund. “I’m honored to stand in front of you today and say that as of April 1, 2014, I purchased my home,” said Whitley. With the purchase of her home, she was able to check off the last item on her list.
“We cannot be a strong city without healthy communities and we cannot be healthy communities without the stabilization and the health of families, and that includes financial stability,” said third-term Boston City Councilor, Ayanna Pressley addressing the graduates. “So, although you are uplifting yourself with the tools that you have developed here and the natural abilities that you have refined through this program, in building yourself up, you are also uplifting the entire community.”
Pressley grew up with financial instability in a neighborhood where she says there were more check cashing facilities than there were community banks. “My mother was doing the best that she could, but there was still a sort of toxic stress that I wasn’t even aware of,” she says. “How I approach policy work comes from those life experiences.”
The first woman of color to be elected to the Boston City Council, Pressley formed and now chairs the Committee on Healthy Women, Families and Communities, where her work is focused on stabilizing families and communities and breaking cycles of poverty and violence.
“What you’re doing today is not going to just have an impact on your family and on your community, but also on generations to follow,” said Pressley. “So I come here to say thank you. And I just want to ask you to pass it on. In the immortal words of Maya Angelou, ‘what you learn, teach; what you get, give’ and I want to challenge all of you to do that.”

From:http://www.bidmc.org/News/Around-BIDMC/2014/July/Debt-to-Assets.aspx

07/29/2014

We are thrilled to have just received word that Moving from Debt to Assets has been awarded a Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money contribution from Citizens Bank ! This valuable financial support will help us reach more under-served communities and make it possible for more individuals and families to build strong financial futures. We are particularly grateful for this grant, because it marks the 10th continuous year that the Citizens Bank Foundation has provided substantial financial support for Moving from Debt to Assets. We celebrate this powerful partnership, which has contributed so much to our success over those years. To learn more about Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money, visithttp://www.citizensbank.com/community/financial-literacy.aspx .

07/17/2014

Real life Real Stories
Stay for a class Start a new life

When Ana joined Moving from Debt to Assets in October of 2010, she had just arrived here from Cape Verde 6 months before. She was a single parent, was unemployed, and had no savings. As she told me, “I just spent money all the time. I never tried saving.” Now she is working as a Unit Coordinator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, having recently moved up from Housekeeper, and is taking classes at Bunker Hill Community College. As a result of our program, she opened up a savings account for the first time and deposited the $450 cash grant that she received as part of our program. Since then she has been depositing $350 a month and now has a balance of $10,000 in that savings account! And she now has an additional $10,000 in her 401(k)! But there’s more – We also had referred her to an IDA program, and she is now saving – on top of the money flowing into her savings account and her 401(k) – another $200 every month, towards buying a home. Finally, due to our referral, in March of this year, Ana graduated from the Found in Translation Program, gaining her certification as a Medical Interpreter, opening up new opportunities for increasing her income.

07/17/2014

Real life Real Stories
Saving Money Saving Lives

Josue came here from Haiti at age 14. Once at college, he was inundated with credit card offers, and in no time had rung up $4,156 on 4 different credit cards. And then, after having been unemployed and making no payments for 3 long years, he managed to get the balance up to $9,647. Meanwhile he was living a free-spending lifestyle, sometimes going to the movies twice a week. After coming into Moving from Debt to Assets in August 2007, he was able to negotiate a settlement of all his credit card debt. He got his spending under control, and he opened a savings account and managed to save $4,000 in 6 months! And then January 12 of 2010 came…the day of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The calls from relatives in Haiti started coming in, calls for help. Had he stayed on his earlier debt-ridden financial course, there would have been nothing he could have done - no money, no help he could give. But, in fact, he had saved up $10,000 – and was able to send 5 relatives to safety in Mexico. That is quite an outcome!

03/12/2014

Cape Verdean Community Marks Giant Steps
Toward Cutting Debt and Building Assets
Citizens Bank joins forces with two organizations to offer financial education
in Cape Verdean Creole

DORCHESTER – Twenty pairs of shoes – that’s what Rosy Brito used to spend her money on! That was before she joined a program called Moving from Debt to Assets, a financial education program that is committed to helping people make long-lasting changes in the way that they manage their finances. Ms. Brito was speaking at the graduation of her group in the program, Class #44, on March 4. This particular group was conducted in Cape Verdean Creole, one of the six languages the program operates in.

With the graduation of Class #44, the total number of graduates in the program reached 891. This group is the third in the program to be conducted in Cape Verdean Creole. This group, plus Class 45, conducted in Spanish, was funded by the Citizens Bank Foundation, which has supported this program since its start in 2005. Class #44’s local partners are the Catholic Charities Teen Center, which hosted the meetings, and Cape Verdean Community UNIDO.

The celebratory graduation ceremony featured congratulations from State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, whose new district includes the Dorchester neighborhood where this group meets. The graduation program also included speeches by graduates, including Ms. Brito’s, on how Moving from Debt to Assets has made a difference in their lives.

This group, plus one conducted in Spanish, running simultaneiously, was made possible by funding from the Citizens Bank Foundation. Barbara Berke, member of the board of directors of Moving from Debt to Assets, expressed the gratitude of her organization for this generous support, as well as the Foundation’s nine years of continuous support. Anthony Staten, Vice President and Regional Manager of Citizens Bank and Branch Manager Antonio Barros represented Citizens Bank and the Citizens Bank Foundation at the graduation.

“This is a community on the rise,” concluded Barbara Berke, speaking about numerous positive developments in the Cape Verdean community, including the work of the Catholic Charities Teen Center and Cape Verdean Community UNIDO and the recent appointment of John Barros as the Chief of Economic Development for the City of Boston.
About Moving from Debt to Assets

Moving from Debt to Assets is a non-profit organization which delivers a comprehensive, outcomes-driven, life-changing financial education program that has built a strong track record over the past 8 years by making it possible for 891 graduates to take control of their finances and achieve their financial goals. The program targets low-income, under-served communities, frequently ones that no other financial education program is serving. It is the only program in Greater Boston that is delivering financial education to the Haitian community on a regular basis in Haitian Creole, that offers financial education in Cape Verdean Creole, and that serves the growing Muslim community in Boston. It is one of the few programs providing financial education to the Latino community in Spanish. It is the only comprehensive financial education program in the state of Massachusetts that operates in 6 languages. It has 3 components to make long-lasting change possible: a 6-session class, a peer-led support group, and individual financial counseling.

03/12/2014

Graduation Party for #44 class.
Photo #1 State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry addresses the audience.
Photo #2 Graduate Rosy Brito speaks on how Moving from Debt to Assets made a difference in her life.
Photo #3 Proud graduates Jose Correia and Sylvestre Vaz show off their graduation certificates.

03/05/2014

03/05/2014

Marie Mona Pompilus's Speech in State House
My name is Marie Mona Pompilus, and I am a graduate of class 38 in Moving from Debt to Assets. It is a pleasure and an honor to be part of the 1st Annual State House Financial Capability Day!!
I came to Massachusetts after the earthquake that occurred in Haiti in 2010. I was in a corner of uncertainty and doubt. Trying to survive economically navigating this new, unfamiliar, and complicated financial system was almost unimaginable challenge. Then I found "Moving from Debt to Assets". This program is a life changing Financial education program that empowers men, women, delivered in 6 languages in Greater Boston.
Probably you are wondering how this program made an impact in my life!
My story is: I was working for a company; from time to time the manager sent me home early without completing my hours. I was frustrated, and I was very angry. My anger attacked my health. I was suffering high blood pressure. Later on I've leaned from my financial teacher many concepts and tools but there are 2 things I will never forget:

-How to make a Budget Plan.
-Prioritizing (make a differences between my WANTS and NEEDS)

Because of my budget plan, it became less stressful to accept how things were going at work, and keep it cool until I found my next job. I became more prepared to face the challenges life brings everyday.And I've been tried to teach my son how saving is important and I bought him a piggy bank. He kept pulling out the money I put in to buy cookies at school but he stopped since the first lady Michel Obama changed the menu at school. "No more cookies Mom" He said. We went to a credit union and opened his first saving account.
In a word, the program gave me: My self-confident back, facilitate my integration into this big country. Save even my income in small and led me into a certified Interpreting. Now I am working fro different agencies in Boston. Today the good news is that Next week, class 44 conducted in Cap Verdean Creole and held in Dorchester, and class 45 conducted in Spanish in South Boston, are graduating, bringing the total number of graduates in Moving From Debt to Assets to 905. And I am so proud to be part of that large financial family.

Thank you!

03/05/2014