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Financial Tips from Penny Pincher
Money Mapping: The New Way to Budget!
A Money Map is a new and more inclusive term for a Budget. It includes understanding your income and tracking your expenses, establishing short and long-term savings and spending goals, and building good credit.
While a budget can feel a bit like being on a diet (it's fine in the beginning but it's easy to get off track after a while), a money map encourages a more fluid process, so you're always thinking about the next step in your plan.
This concept is so new that there aren't a lot of resources about it out there yet. We'll discuss how to create your own money map in the third edition of our booklet Cents and Sensibility: A Guide to Money Management, due to be completed this summer. In the meantime, check out www.mint.com for a helpful tool that will allow you to create and manage your own budget.
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In the News:
PATF is Re-Certified as a CDFI
A few weeks ago we received some wonderful news - PATF has been re-certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Organizations certified as CDFIs provide traditionally under-served communities with access to capital, financial services, and technical assistance. This funding will continue to be utilized to make assistive technology attainable for Pennsylvanians with disabilities through low-interest loans.
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Upcoming Events
July 22-24, 2015
PA Community on Transition Conference
Penn State Conference Center and Hotel, State College, PA
The purpose of this conference is to promote the successful transition of youth/young adults with disabilities to post-school outcomes of employment, post-secondary education and training, community participation and healthy lifestyles. We'll be presenting on Thursday, July 23rd, from 2:30-4:00 PM on the topic Financial Education: Pathways to Independence.
Find out more...
July-August 2015
Just a few ADA Celebrations!
Follow the link below to see just a few of the celebrations happening across the state.
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After serving in the US Army for 6 years, Debbie came home to Pennsylvania to continue her career as a registered nurse. For 9 years she has worked in an acute care hospital in Erie and is finding that her hearing in her left ear is getting progressively worse, making it challenging for her to communicate effectively with her coworkers and her patients. When Debbie looked into getting a hearing aid she realized she wouldn't be able to afford it on her own. Seeking support, Debbie reached out to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), but even with their help she would still need to pay $1000 out of pocket. While she could've received help from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), her job provides her with private insurance and she felt more comfortable "giving her spot" with the VA to another veteran who needs it more than she does. In the end, Debbie found help through an organization called Embracing Our Vets (EOV), who then referred her to Affordable Care Hearing Aids and PATF. In the end Debbie's expenses totaled $450. Her no-interest loan from PATF has low monthly payments, and finally her hearing aid is attainable. Debbie cannot wait to live her life more fully again with the help of her new hearing aid.
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The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) may be able to help.
Veterans who enroll for VA medical benefits are placed in one of seven eligibility categories based on service-related disabilities, income level, and other factors. All veterans with a service-connected disability for hearing loss or ear-related diseases are eligible for hearing aid services.
Veterans must be enrolled for VA health care and must be receiving their medical care from the VA to be eligible for special services such as hearing aids. Veterans should contact their local VA facility for assistance in enrollment. Each VA facility has an eligibility office to assist veterans. Veterans can also contact their local service organization for assistance. Veterans can obtain more information on benefits from the VA homepage.
Here is a link to a helpful fact sheet that explains the VA's audiology services.
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Peter Kennedy, Vice President
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Peter Kennedy Peter Kennedy, who has lived with several family members who have disabilities, has spent his professional and volunteer efforts on developing community resources based on the needs of people who are under-served. As a creator of innovative programs and services in the area of employment, independent living, adult day care, care management and outpatient medical rehabilitation, Mr. Kennedy has provided opportunities for people with disabilities for over thirty years. Learn more about Peter and meet the other members of our board...
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Project CHALENG (Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups) for Veterans brings together homelessness service providers, advocates, Veterans and other concerned citizens to identify the needs of homeless Veterans and work to meet those needs through planning and cooperative action.
Project CHALENG has two components: a CHALENG survey, in which participants rate the needs of homeless Veterans in their local communities, and CHALENG meetings, which encourage partnership development between VA and community service providers.
We'll be attending one of their meetings in early August. Please consider taking the survey to help identify unmet needs and encourage new partnership development to meet those needs.
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Our mission at Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) is to provide education and financing opportunities for older Pennsylvanians and people with disabilities, helping them to acquire assistive technology devices and services that improve the quality of their lives.
Assistive technology is any device that helps a person with a disability achieve a more independent and productive life. Devices may include such items as: adapted vehicles, iPads, accessible home modifications (including ramps, roll-in showers, lowered counter tops, and stairglides), computers with special software and/or hardware, hearing aids, flashing doorbells, scooters and wheelchairs, seat lift chairs.
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