August 2015
 
 

Talking to your adult kids about money can be quite a challenge.  Conversations come embedded with emotions such as guilt for wanting to do more, and fear of being hypocritical.  As a parent, your comments, though well-intentioned, may be perceived as judgmental and unwanted advice.  Our clients tell us that they have the greatest success when they are honest and transparent with their kids about their own mistakes, and then encourage them to access resources like the services we provide at Innovative Changes.  Aleta recently made great progress on paying down her debt by working with one of our financial coaches.  "In the past, I was not a good example to my children when it came to finances," said Aleta.  "Now I'm building my credit and following a budget.  I told my son to go to Innovative Changes to ask about his student loans. When he came home, he was over the moon."  We believe that everyone has the right to financial stability, and it's a gift we can pass from one generation to the next. Sometimes, it just starts with a conversation. 

Nancy Yuill
Farewell to Alanna Hoyman-Browe and Andrea Kerwin

This past year has been a watershed year for us as we expanded our reach to serve more people, we deepened our work with our youth population and we built a data tracking system that integrates across all of our programs.  None of this could have happened without the amazing dedication of Alanna Hoyman-Browe and Andrea Kerwin.  Whether it was training community members to be financial coaches or setting up pre-paid debit cards for tax filers,  these two AmeriCorps VISTA members approached each project with lots of brain power, a can do attitude, and a healthy dose of fun.  They have been a real pleasure to work with and will be sorely missed.  Please join us in wishing them all the best on their next adventures. 

We have moved!


In the past weeks and months we have been preparing for our beautiful new office space across the atrium and we are finally there! While there is still much settling to be done, we are definitely open for business! A huge thank you for the help we got from CASH Oregon and our amazing volunteers! Our new address is 2027 LLoyd Center! We look forward to giving you a tour.

 


Meet our new intern: Dejanna Estil
 
What drew you to this position at Innovative Changes?  
What drew me to my internship at Innovative Changes was the email I received from my work experience specialist, Corey. She had sent me an email about Innovative Changes and my position; I thought it was pretty cool that this organization is as helpful as it is.

What were you doing before IC$? 
Before Innovative Changes I was a junior at Centennial High School, and my favorite class last year was Anatomy/Physiology. I've always been interested in science/medicine since I was little,  I like learning new things. 

Where are you originally from? 
I was born and raised in East Portland and my mother was born in Seattle (it's probably the coolest city I've been to). On my dad's side, I'm a 1st generation American since he and my brother, Basualdo, were born in Haiti. My brother is 5 years older than me and he is going to school to become a doctor. I couldn't be more proud of him.

Read more about Dejanna here!
 

Client Spotlight: Nicole!

By Alanna Hoyman-Browe

For many people, losing their job can throw their family into a real financial emergency. And if it hadn't been for the Women's Leadership Peer Group this might have been the case for Nicole and her family. However, because Nicole had spent the previous months building her savings through budgeting and real behavioral change, she was able to weather the storm. In fact the money that sustained Nicole and her family during her months of unemployment was the money she had saved by cutting back on smoking and using other budgeting tools.

"It gave me the tools I needed to make it through my hard time," says Nicole. During the Women's Peer Group Nicole had set a goal to cut back on smoking, for her health and for the savings. When she recently lost her job, she had enough money saved to keep her out of financial emergency.

"At first it was challenging, but you have to keep your eyes and mind on the prize. The prize is your health, your family. I was able to save $500 for the holiday season so I didn't go into credit card debt at all this year. I thought, wow! Look what I did!"


Read more about Nicole here!
Upcoming Workshops & Orientations
 
The next Financial Household Resiliency workshops will be:

   

- Tuesday evenings, 5:30-7:30pm

 

Sept. 8th: Making Ends Meet

Sept. 15th: Budgeting and Savings

Sept. 22nd: Hands on Banking

Sept. 29th: Building, Repairing, and Protecting Credit 

 

This workshop series will be held at our office in 2027 Lloyd Center Mall. You can register for the classes here.

Our next Credit Builder Orientations will be:

 

 

-Wednesday Sept. 2nd, 5:30-6:50pm

-Monday Sept. 7th, 5:30-6:30pm

-Friday Sept. 18th, 5:30-6:30pm

-EN ESPANOL miercoles, 30 de septiembre, 5:30-6:30pm


 

 

 All take place at our office, 2027 Lloyd Center.  Register here.

 
Quick Stats:
As of 8/19/2015
Partners:
 49
Loans: 
Total disbursed:
 808
 $367,663
Financial Education Clients: 3,269
IDA Savers: 112
IDA Graduates:
 13
IDA Wait List:
--
IDA Interest: 
172
 
About Us
 
Our inter-related programs of responsible lending, credit building, financial education and savings acceleration build people's financial capabilities and put them on the path to long term financial health.  Join us in our work!

You Can Help!

You care about helping people achieve and maintain household stability. Now you can join our efforts at Innovative Changes as we expand our reach to serve more clients. Your generous donation will be put to good use!

 

Whatever amount you can afford, you can set it up for monthly automatic payments to ease your cash flow. If you have bill pay service with your bank you can set up Innovative Changes to receive regular monthly payments. If you prefer, we can process a monthly ACH transaction on your behalf. Contact us at contact@innovativechanges.org to set up your monthly giving program.

 

Thank you for your support!

Quick Links