Joe's Story 

Joe is a resident of Northwest Housing Alternative's senior affordable housing. Unemployed and on a fixed income, he was having trouble paying his rent and bills, owed the state for back taxes and needed to get his drivers license and car insurance up to date in order to get work, but the costs prevented him from doing so. Joe was in a cycle of taking out up to three payday loans a month to pay his bills. He usually was able to pay them off once his social security income came in, but this process was expensive, tiring and stressful. He went in to speak with his resident service coordinator and she referred him to Innovative Changes.

Joe explained his situation to Talia at Innovative Changes. He joked that he should just move into a tent and everything would be simpler. Together, they started mapping out his bills and expenses. Joe took out an opportunity loan so that he could pay off his pay day loans and with a lot of planning and visioning, he could begin to see his way out of a hole of debt. He reflects, "When I came in to Innovative Changes, I didn't know where I was going with my money. I had never used a budget before; until we looked at everything on paper it didn't make sense. Sitting down and talking about setting up a budget helped quite a bit."

 Joe came back for several more budgeting sessions. Each time he reported on changes he made to his monthly budget: he switched to a pre-paid phone plan which saved him $30 a month, he consolidated storage units, got a cheaper cable plan and collected scrap metal around his neighborhood to earn more money. He faithfully made his loan payments to Innovative Changes and started looking more seriously for a job. Eventually he found a maintenance job at an apartment complex in downtown Portland which he enjoys.

Now, Joe is caught up on his bills and "a lot of things got squared away and paid off." With a little extra room in his budget he was even able to buy himself a computer. His next step will be opening up an emergency savings account at a credit union so that he can cover unexpected expenses that comes up. Joe's advice for other people struggling to pay their bills is: "If you don't have a budget- make one! You might have a budget but you not be doing it right, so sit down with someone and get it all out on paper." 

Volunteer Spotlight: Henry Yu, The Financial Planning Association 

Often our clients ask: "what's the next step?" They have attended our classes, peer groups and coaching sessions. They are following a budget, saving money, have improved their credit, and may even be coaching others on how to do all these things. These steps alone are amazing feats.  But, it's always important to think: what else can I do to improve my financial stability for tomorrow, next year, ten years from now or for my children's future? There is always something more that you can do.

Innovative Changes can help people establish a foundation of financial skills, but for more complicated matters (read: estate planning, retirement, investments) we look to the experts. Experts like financial planners can be cost prohibitive, but we are lucky to live in a city with professionals committed to their community. The Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Oregon is a non-profit professional organization whose members are individuals and companies who have contributed to building the financial planning profession.  The FPA is a main source of professionals who volunteer to help people access financial planning information.  The FPA "believes that everyone needs objective advice to make smart financial decisions."

This is where our new financial education initiative, Financial Empowerment Clinics (FECs) come in, wahoo! At these clinics, attendees have access to professionals, workshops and resources that can help them improve their short and long term financial health. We have two FECs planned for the fall (see here for more information) and through this work, we have gotten to know some great financial planners who eagerly donate their time to help provide their services to those who wouldn't usually be able to afford them.

Next week you will find financial planner and FPA member Henry Yu teaching an estate planning workshop and meeting one on one with attendees for a free financial planning session during our FEC at the Midland Library on September 15th. Henry Yu has been involved in planning the national Financial Planning Day (Oct 6th) and stepped up to organize a series of community based Financial Empowerment Clinics at different Multnomah County Library locations like the event coming up at the Midland Library. Henry has been essential in planning, recruiting volunteers and making these FECs come to life so we wanted to hear a little more about what he does when he's not organizing pro bono initiatives and what drew him to this great work!

What do you do when are not planning financial planning days?

I work my other, full time job as a registered investment advisor and a certified financial planning practitioner.  Like everyone else, making sure the bills get paid!

What drew you to this work?            

I was a finance major at PSU, so finance has been intriguing to me (weird right?) and I love being able to (sort of) forecast the future!

How long have you been engaged with the FPA? What type of activities do you do with them?

Been with the FPA for almost 2 years now.  I'm primarily focusing on providing pro bono assistance to the community.

Why are you excited about financial planning days/financial empowerment clinics?

Just the fact that we can be out helping people who need our help the most and promoting our industry/organization. 

How does Innovative Changes fit in with your daily work and/or the FPA?

IC$ fits in well in terms of connecting us with the community.  They already have the structure and infrastructure in place so the FPA can simply piggy back on to delivery what we want to do.

What's your vision for a more financially fit Portland? How will that happen?

I believe that a financially responsible city, county, state and country all begins at the individual level.  By educating people about the importance of a sound financial plan-whether it be as simple as having a monthly budget or one of the more comprehensive approach-one by one we can make a difference.  We all have to learn to live within our means. Of course, there are genuine situations where people do need all the (financial) assistance available.  I have all the sympathy for them. 

Financial Education Galore:

We are excited about the upcoming Financial Empowerment Clinics and hope to see some familiar faces there! Also, due to the holiday season, the October Financial Household Resiliency Series may be our last of 2012 (don't worry, it will be back in full force in 2013!), so come while you can! 

If we are not teaching something that you would like to see more of, get in touch with us by emailing contact@innovativechanges.org. We'd love to hear from you!

Free Financial Empowerment Clinics

Have a question about retirement planning, creating a will or long term financial plan for your family? Have you ever wanted to meet with a financial planner but can't afford one? Come to a financial empowerment clinic. At these clinics you get the chance to sit down with a professional, discuss whatever you want and receive pro-bono advice with no strings attached! There will also be workshops on budgeting, credit and saving and resources on other community programs and services that you can take advantage of! We have two coming up:

Thank you for your support!