AmeriCorps presence in the Asset Building & IDA Collaborative of N.C.: Trevor, with Durham Regional Financial Center

This next installment in the series of AmeriCorps interviews is with Trevor, who is an AmeriCorps VISTA placed in Durham.  Trevors interview is fast paced, energetic, and filled with ideas, information, and projects underway.  It left me excited, impressed, and  feeling even luckier to be a part of such a strong group of VISTAs.  Trevor is a "take the bull by the horns" kind of guy (good thing he is in Bull City!), which is very obvious in the way he works, and the great things he has already accomplished.  I feel honored to present you with this interview  -Andriana Bicanin

Trevor:

Trevor is placed at Durham Regional Financial Center.  He applied for AmeriCorps VISTA after finding the job listing online, and thought the work looked interesting.  His thought process went, “Man, this looks worthwhile.”  Part of the appeal of the work was that it was a new venture and something he had not done before.  At the time of application he had two part time jobs, but when he saw this it was something he just couldn’t pass up.  He compared this position to the “shiny thing in the store.”  He doesn’t make impulse purchases, but instead life decisions.  With this spontaneity comes a strong work ethic and constant movement within his position.  He puts in 110% at Durham Regional Financial Center, and really throws himself into his work.  Trevor doesn’t want to show up at work one day and find himself with nothing to do, so he is constantly researching programs and best practices, finding people to meet, connections to make, and forging ahead with great new plans for the program and community.  He readily admits that what allows him to continue doing this much-needed work is strong leadership from his supervisor and the director of the agency, Glyndola Beasley.  Even while conducting this very interview he had just left a lunch meeting that he only found out about hours before.  While talking his tone is very descriptive of what is going on with this great organization; fast paced, and always moving, he keeps remembering nonprofits they are working with and programs that benefit the community.  After the interview was over it took me a few minutes to catch my own breath after hearing all the great things going on in Durham.

Durham Regional Financial Center, a HUD Approved and COA Accredited 501(c)3 non-profit formed in 1998, focuses on a variety of things such as: housing counseling, pre- and post-purchase counseling, loss mitigation and foreclosure prevention, credit and budget counseling, debt management plans, and reverse mortgage.

What do you do with the program; what are some projects?

Overall, Trevor administers the IDA program, does outreach, recruits new clients, works on retention, and works to determine what the clients need and how the organization can address those needs.  Lately, he has been trying to streamline the administration of the program, and since he’s only there for a year he’s focusing on standardizing a lot of the procedures and processes so the organization can look at one manual to see what to do. 

Also on his plate:

-Will be working on EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) pretty soon, and will be promoting VITA sites.

-Standardizing and creation of guidelines will help with his current focus, which is that of retention.  For this he is constantly contacting all of their clients and making a timeline for the program from beginning to end.  This will hopefully keep them on a schedule for outreach and retention- it states how often they will call their clients in order for project success.

Trevor would like to increase the incentives for people in the community to attend classes his organization hosts.  Durham Regional Financial Center’s Individual Development Account is for first time homeowners.  These clients are required to take classes in their journey to homeownership, but the goal is to create a program that is as inclusive as possible in order to better reach out to the Durham community.

Credit unions are a really great resource to go to in any community, and he is looking to partner with those in Durham.  He is currently working on ways to get people into affordable savings and checking accounts, even if they have been banned from checking because of past mistakes.  Several participants never had savings before entering the program.  Clients are now able to begin the account creation process at the end of their first IDA counseling session.  Access to low- and no-cost banking, credit building and financial knowledge is a great incentive for those in the community.  Promoting an environment that allows people to share their goals and learn from one another is paramount in creating a sense of community and keeping people in the program; the food that they provide during classes does not hurt, either.

With these incentives in place he would like to make the classes a little more intense to drive home the gravity of a purchase commitment.  The increased intensity will weed out those who are not serious about the program, and keep the people who are serious about buying a home.  It also helps set them up for higher success.  The IDA classes are the easiest part of the home process.  You come to the classes and learn.  When you are done with the classes you are out there, own your home, have a mortgage, and need to know, remember, and act on all of the information you were taught.  He wants to drive home that this is going to affect the next 30+ years of their lives!  This isn’t something that ends when you graduate from the course, receive a loan, and get that house- this is something that you *need* to be prepared for, and information that will make it harder to default, and cause less stress.  Thirty years is a pretty large chunk of time! 

They recently graduated seven active account-holding participants through their financial education course.  They have also expanded their financial education and homebuyer education schedule for 2011, giving clients more opportunities to participate and learn.  Additionally, Durham County’s residents can now look forward to increased opportunities to participate in the Individual Development Account program’s classes at times that fit their schedule.

Although he was unfamiliar with the territory, Trevor approached this work by jumping straight into it, and hitting the ground running.  What finds the most productive is “pounding the pavement.”  He feels that in order to create the most capacity, and make the most impact you “Gotta get out in the community and hit the ground running.  Get out there and meet people as soon as you can, and as often as you can.”

Partnerships and Ideas:

Trevor devotes a lot of time calling people and pitching the idea of their IDA program.  The people he has spoken to love the idea, as he says, “What’s not to love about it.”  As they approach tax season he is going to expand into EITC.  With that venture he will approach it slightly different, but is still going to approach potential clients and partners and tell them, “This is good for your employees.”  A lot of people qualify for VITA and EITC, it’s just a matter of getting the word out there.

How Their Program Works:

Clients need to save a total of $1500

Program Length:

6 months, 12 months, 24 months

Money saved each month:

6 month: $250

12 month: $125

24 month: $62.50

Matching Funds:

6 month: 3:1

12 month: 4:1

24 month: 5:1

Durham Regional Finance Center stays in close contact with clients during and after their savings plan, and has plans to expand their capabilities for long-term tracking.  By the end of the plan they are mentally prepared for this endeavor.  Another reason he wants to expand the IDA program is so participants who do not qualify for matching grants can participate, learn about money and open accounts.  Although they do not receive the matched money, the program can help them build credit and develop sound financial habits.  This makes it so they don’t just blow it or “keep it under the mattress.”  If at some point during the savings plan they are confident enough in their financial abilities to purchase a home (and they qualify), they can begin saving for the matching grant since they already fulfilled the educational portion.

Partnerships:

He has been talking to creditors, realtors and city agents, and has had success with a variety of organizations.  Trevor has presented on asset building at a variety of organizations in Durham County. He goes to these organizations and says, “Hey, this is who we are.”  He is basically trying to get face time with different agencies to get them in the push for asset building.

Any Challenges?

He finds it challenging to take his time, and take things one step at a time.  He realizes that everything is a process and you have to go through it one step at a time, or else you will lose your way.  It was especially troublesome that he had to learn the basics as he administered and built the program; it was a juggling act.  Fortunately, he has had some fantastic guidance and help from volunteers.  Programs like this thrive on volunteers and people who are willing to put forth time to make this work.  One of the goals is to make this program a priority for where they are, and to do that they have to prove they are making headway.  Although it has been difficult at times, the program would not have been able to move forward without its volunteers and close relationship with Durham.

Parting Words:

“Bull City.”