A COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP
Helping people. Changing lives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact:
COI Receives Grant from Key Bank
Foundation to Support Financial Literacy Education Program
Chautauqua Opportunities Inc.’s (COI) Homeownership
Counseling and Education Program recently received a $5,000 Grant from the Key
Bank Foundation in support of its financial literacy education program.
COI’s Financial Literacy program provides credit and money
management counseling. The counselors also assist in developing personal and
household budgets, establishing banking relationships, and empowering customers
to negotiate payment plans and debt settlement agreements to clear credit and
gain financial self sufficiency.
Community Investment Manager
COI’s Financial Literacy Counseling Service uses trained
staff counselors who work with customers and banks, mortgage holders, and
creditors of any source to bring financial management under control. Default
counseling has played a large part in the program, assisting people to remain
in their homes and avoid foreclosure through negotiation and fiscal management.
A series of financial literacy workshops also are available
to all customers. These workshops are conducted in three separate 2 hour
sections titled “Building a family budget”, “Understanding Credit and Debt, and
“Saving and Investing in Your Future”. The counselors also assist in developing
personal and household budgets and empowering customers to negotiate with
debtors through education and fiscal control. All COI Homeownership customers
are required to attend the Financial Literacy workshops. Participants are given a workbook that
incorporates information from several recognized sources, including the FDIC
“Money Smart” program and the Fannie Mae program “Growing Your Money.”
The program currently serves about 250 customers on an annual basis. For more information about the Financial Literacy programs at COI, call 661-9430.
-30-
Central Administrative Offices