Protect Your Voucher: Understanding HCV Program Enforcement

You're Invited!  HCV Participant Workshop Protect Your Voucher: Understanding HCV Program Enforcement

Can you name all 40 of the HCV Program Family Obligations? Hear from the Enforcement team as they discuss how to avoid common mistakes when you receive an Intent to Terminate notice, attend hearings, or even face termination.

Thursday, January 9, 2020, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. CHA South Office  10 W. 35th Street, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60616 Parking Options: Metered street parking available on W. 35th Street and S. State Street. Public Transit Options:  #29 Bus and #31 Bus stops at the IIT Tower.  #35 Bus stops a block away at the Green Line.  CTA Green Line (35th-Bronzeville IIT stop) is a block away.  CTA Red Line (Sox-35th stop) is two blocks away. Metra Rock Island District Line (35th Street stop) is a block away.

Click Here to Register Now!

To register by phone, please call the RSVP line: 312-542-8881. Questions? Reply to this email, or call the CHA Customer Call Center: 312-935-2600

Vennmedia Holiday Savings Challenge

This holiday season, Vennmedia Saves is challenging you to not only to be smart in the way you budget, but to save one dollar ($1) for every dollar you spend. It isn’t as crazy as it sounds –

 

1.) Make your list and check it twice. Develop a list for your upcoming holiday, and be as honest about the dollar amount as possible. Include any costs for gift-giving to family, friends, and colleagues, travel, food, or entertainment that might be associated. Do you give a little extra tip to your babysitter, hair stylist, or favorite barista? We often forget to include these gifts in our budgets, so be sure to add them, too.

2.) Prioritize and negotiate. What do you need to make it a happy and successful holiday? Divvy up your list into needs versus wants. You need to pay for travel to your holiday destination, but maybe you can pack some food from the pantry rather than buying a meal along the way. The goal here isn’t necessarily to shorten the length of your list (although doing so will help, too), but rather to negotiate the dollar amounts for your list down.

3.) Tally it up and set your savings goal. Add up the sum total of your holiday list, and don’t be shy about negotiating it down some more. Once you’re at a number (and a list) that is both realistic and manageable, take that final amount and set it as your savings goal for the season. Those who make a commitment to themselves and their family to save usually save more than those who don’t. Take the Vennmedia Saves Pledge to make your commitment real and gain monthly advice and support along the way.

4.) Make it automatic. Every time you cross an item off the spending plan, set up a transfer from your checking account into a savings account. This isn’t necessarily something that you can set on autopilot, but rather can establish as an automatic habit. Starting this process as early as possible can also help you to renegotiate your spending plan if you find that you are having a hard time matching.

               

You don’t have to let holidays break the bank. Join the ranks of those opting to reduce spending and prioritize savings this holiday season. You, too, can reduce spending and save money. To learn more about spending and saving during the holidays and take the Vennmedia Saves pledge, visit www.vennmedia.org.

Holiday Spending On A Budget

You may be encourage to spend a lot of money this holiday season. You may feel pressured to buy the “best” gifts for family and friends. What if I tell you that you can enjoy this holiday season on a budget. Let’s make a commitment right now to be smart in our spending and keep to our spending and savings plan.

Let’s focus on how to make that happen.

 

 

First, take a look at your financial situation and the goals you have:

• Focus on what you really want – I’m not talking about gifts or presents here but rather items like a down payment for a house, saving for a child’s education, or building an emergency fund.

• Create a spending and savings plan to reach your goals – Don’t wait until the New Year, after you have spent all that money over the holidays, to make a resolution to get your finances together. Do it now before you start any holiday spending or incur any unnecessary debts so you know exactly how much you can spend.

• Take the Vennmedia Saves Pledge – Those who make a commitment to themselves and their family to save usually save more than those who don’t. Make your commitment today and get monthly advice and support from America Saves while you save money.

 

 

Once you know how much you have to spend, use these tips and ideas to keep spending within your budget:

• Form gift exchanges – This many not work with all families, but it should definitely work with friends and coworkers. After all, reducing the number of your gifts you have to buy can save you a lot of money.
• Make homemade gifts – Think bath products, movie night packages, remote holders and candles. Pinterest has so many great ideas to inspire you. You can knit, sew, glue, fold, stir, or recycle a handmade gift that keeps your spending low and your personal investment high. 
• Share a skill – Instead of giving a coupon good for one dog walk or one house cleaning (though those are valuable gifts to give, too!), offer to teach your grandmother or an uncle how to use Twitter or arrange for a special night where you can teach a niece or nephew how to cook a meal.

 

 

You don’t have to let this holiday season break the bank. Remember your personal savings goals and get creative with gift giving this year to reduce spending and save money.

 

About Vennmedia: ANME 

 

Vennmedia: ANME is an organization that supports the mission and programs of economic, educational and community development through career training, continuing education, internships, youth programs, fundraising initiatives, and community outreach efforts, helping raise the community resources it needs to make a difference for the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Bring in the New Year with 5 New Financial Tips

 

People are feeling more secure about their finances as a whole and are planning their purchases more strategically. We want to celebrate this fact by encouraging savers to take these good financial habits with them into the New Year. Budgets have become more discerning and savers have become better planners for their holiday spending, prioritizing savings along the way. Many shoppers got a head start this year and had started buying gifts for the season before summer had even come to an end.

 

These successful financial habits don’t have to stop there. With the New Year comes an opportunity to make some improvements to your financial health. Don’t make just another resolution that disappears shortly after the New Year. Take your financial wellness to a whole new level: a New Year, a new financial you.

 

 

These five steps will help you to establish your best financial path for 2020, and you can have all of it done before the ball drop:

 

1) Pay attention to your finances. Take account of all your income, expenses, and existing savings/investment accounts. Don’t forget to include any naughty debts you may have incurred in the spirit of the season.

 

2) Create a budget for the year to come. Plan your holiday spending for 2020 with this handy worksheet from America Saves and find the method for budgeting that you’re going to use in 2017, and rough out what you’d like it to look like from month to month. Be pragmatic about your needs and be honest about where your money is going. Plan to make adjustments and really dig into your spending habits when you check back in on a regular basis.

 

3) Check your credit report. It is your legal right to get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. Add a visit to AnnualCreditReport.com to the calendar as an annual “holiday” or divvy up the bureaus to get a free report from a different bureau every four months.

 

4) Set up bank and credit alerts, and financial reminders. Whether you’re at your computer or on your mobile device, you are in an ideal position to receive notifications about upcoming payments, suspicious activities on an account, transactions over a certain dollar amount, low balances, and more. Find out what online services your financial institution(s) offer, and supplement what they don’t with an app or calendar reminder. It’s all right there at your fingertips.

 

5) Make a Commitment to Yourself to Save. Those who make a commitment to themselves and their family to save usually save more than those who don’t. Think of this as your New Year’s Resolution. Make your commitment today by taking the America Saves Pledge and get regular advice and support from America Saves while you save money.

 

 

 

A new financial you is an achievable goal for 2020. Join those savers who have successfully opted to reduce holiday spending and prioritize savings throughout the season. To learn more about spending and saving during the holidays and take the Vennmedia Saves pledge, visit www.vennmedia.org.

About Vennmedia: ANME 

Vennmedia: ANME is an organization that supports the mission and programs of economic, educational and community development through career training, continuing education, internships, youth programs, fundraising initiatives, and community outreach efforts, helping raise the community resources it needs to make a difference for the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Vennmedia Saves is a local campaign  for America Saves, managed by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which seeks to motivate, encourage, and support low- to moderate-income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. Learn more at AmericaSaves.org.              

 

 

 

Meet the farmer: Margret Fianko, cocoa farmer; Aduyaakrom, Ghana

 

A mother of three, Margret Fianko works with her husband on their seven-acre cocoa farm, part of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative that co-owns Divine Chocolate. Due to illiteracy, Margret hasn’t always understood the business of farming, making it difficult for her to participate in the farm’s financial decisions. Kuapa Kokoo funds literacy and math programs for its women farmers, providing the skills they need to more effectively run their farms. Margret is now able to read, and records income and expenses for her business.  “The best thing about being a member of Kuapa Kokoo is the assistance they provide to women.", said Margret. " Through Kuapa, I’m learning to read, and it’s my goal to one day be elected as the cocoa buyer for the entire cooperative.”

 

 

 

Vennmedia has a great opportunity to support artisans living in poverty, while also fundraising for its cause. We're hosting a SERRV & Earn Sale  featuring beautiful handmade gifts from around the world. Just visit fundraiser page to shop hundreds of fair trade handcrafts. SERRV International, a nonprofit working with global artisans, will donate 20% of purchases to Vennmedia.

Thanks for helping us provide better lives to those who need it.

 

 

About Vennmedia: ANME 

Vennmedia: ANME is an organization that supports the mission and programs of economic, educational and community development through career training, continuing education, internships, youth programs, fundraising initiatives, and community outreach efforts, helping raise the community resources it needs to make a difference for the most vulnerable members of our communities.

 

About SERRV International

 SERRV International is a fair trade nonprofit working with global artisans and farmers in marginalized communities since 1949. Their purchase of over one thousand handcrafted home décor, fashion, and food items, sold nationwide, allow producers to fund artisan employment,

community building, healthcare, and education initiatives. The company’s values and their close connection to citizens of 25 countries allows for unique insight into the challenges, suffering and economic potential of people on a global scale. Learn more at serrv.org.

 

 

 

 

Help us spread the word about Giving Tuesday at Prosperity Now!

 

This #GivingTuesday, Prosperity Now will allocate all funds raised toward nonprofit partner scholarships to attend the 2020 Prosperity Summit. Help us get local leaders and advocates to gain new tools, reimagine solutions for their communities and network with philanthropists and practitioners they might not otherwise have access to. As an added bonus, Facebook is matching up to $7 million in eligible donations to participating organizations, meaning every donation made on Facebook to Prosperity Now will be matched up to $100,000!

 

To help, simply start a fundraiser on Facebook tomorrow using the link below and select Prosperity Now as the beneficiary. At 8 a.m. EST, make a personal donation to your fundraiser (to activate Facebook’s matching) and share with 10 friends! https://socialgood.fb.com/learning-support/individuals/



Strengthen What's Working - The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit