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Consumer FocusMoney Smart WeekMoney Smart Week Illinois will be held April 6 – 12. Community Plus Federal Credit Union is joining with a host of other financial institutions, organizations, and government agencies in Champaign County to provide a week of classes and other events that focus on financial topics.Money Smart Week began in 2000 as a coordinated effort of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and the Money Smart Advisory Council. Events are being held all over the state with over 80 free educational classes in Champaign County alone. The Credit Union will be presenting the “Out of Hock, Out of Debt” Seminar on Monday April 7th at 6:30 PM in the Rantoul Public Library Community Room. For a complete listing of events contact the credit union or go to www.moneysmartweek.org. Credit Union Youth Week The average 12th grader earned an F in financial literacy during a 2006 survey. What our youth do not know can be shocking. For example, only 23% understood that interest on savings accounts was taxable and only 40% realized they could lose their own health insurance if their parents became unemployed. Achieving economic prosperity is difficult, and it will be especially hard for young people who’ve never learned to manage money. Your Credit Union believes in the power of education, and is here to help you launch youth towards financial independence. It begins with you opening a Youth Account here at the credit union for each child in your family. At home, include your children in your household financial discussions. Challenge them with things like finding a better cell phone plan or calculating the total monthly cost of owning a car. Teach your children to ask for help when they need it. Show them how you turn to the Credit Union when you need help. Our tradition of respect and service make Community Plus Federal Credit Union a natural partner in pursuing financial security. Join us April 20-26 as we celebrate National Credit Union Youth Week. Our theme is “Got Green? Grow it At Your Credit Union.” To encourage you, we are entering everyone that opens a Youth Account that week into a drawing for a $25 gift card to be awarded here, plus a nationwide drawing for $100. For more information contact the Credit Union.
Community Plus FCU Sponsors Money Management Class
The course was led by Christine Green, from Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance PAID program and assisted by Wednesday Medlen, Membership Officer with Community Plus Federal Credit Union. Partnership Accounts for Individual Development, nfp, (PAID) is a non-profit organization that works to support individual development accounts (IDAs) for asset acquisition. IDA’s are matched savings accounts that can be used to fund assets such as home-ownership, secondary-education and small business development. The PAID program also works to increase financial literacy among low and moderate income families. Through partnerships with various community organizations, the PAID program facilitates several financial education courses each year. PAID was founded in the spring of 2001. It was an inspiration of the Predatory Lending Taskforce. PAID is located at Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, 302 N. First Street, Champaign, IL 61820. The Taskforce saw a need for proactive programs in the community to combat the abuses of predatory lenders. By creating a program which would encourage participants to learn positive financial practices while at the same time saving for a large asset purchase, the Taskforce hoped to combat these deleterious practices. Participants in the PAID program must meet certain income requirements and demonstrate the ability to save for long-term goals and work on repairing their credit. As a prerequisite, participants attend 12 hours of money management classes. After completion of these courses, participants take six hours of asset-specific education, such as a home-ownership class for those wishing to purchase a home. While taking this asset –specific classes, participants open and make regular deposits, up to $2,000, in to a savings account. These savings are matched by the PAID program, $2 for every $1 saved by the participant, for purchase of their chosen asset. Community Plus Federal Credit Union partnered with the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance and The Church of the Nazarene to offer the 12-hour money management class to residents of Rantoul. Community Plus Federal Credit Union is in the business of “People Helping People” and is always looking for financial education resources that would be of assistance to its members and families of Rantoul and surrounding communities. Community Plus Federal Credit Union on a quarterly basis offers financial education courses free to the community. Pastor Mike Curtis of The Nazarene Church was very accommodating in allowing Land of Lincoln and Community Plus to hold the 12-hour class at the church. Pastor Curtis is very interested in financial education not only for his members but to the families of Rantoul. Community Plus Federal Credit Union appreciates all the help Pastor Curtis and The Nazarene church provided. PAID will be offering EITC, Dec. 4th 7-8pm, and Buying a Used Card, Dec. 11th 6:30-8:30pm. For more information on the PAID program, call 217.721.PAID or send an email to paid@prairienet.org. For more information on when Community Plus Federal Credit Union will be hosting financial education seminars, contact Wednesday Medlen at (217) 893-8201 or email members@cuplus.org. Financial education courses will begin quarterly January 2008 with Out of Hock and Out of Debt II.
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