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Money Smart News - October 2003

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Money Smart: An Award Winning Program
In addition to the Service to America Medal, the Money Smart financial education program has received awards and recognition in communities around the country, including:
  • The Philadelphia Financial Literacy and Security Initiative - also known as Money Smart Plus, won the Gold Medal for Community Service Group Award from the Federal Executive Board for Excellence in Government. Money Smart Plus is a collaborative effort between the FDIC; the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the Department of Labor (DOL) Women's Bureau; DOL Pension Benefits Security Administration; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Association (SSA), Pennsylvania CareerLink; HUD Neighborhood Network Center; Women of War Ministries (a faith-based organization), and Beneficial Savings Bank.


  • The Northeast Nebraska Economic Development, Inc. (NED) was one of 19 community organizations to receive a Financial Literacy Grant from the American Express Foundation. The NED was awarded a $30,000 grant from the American Express Economic Independence Fund. The Norfolk Area Money Smart Financial Literacy Project, which is spearheaded by the NED, includes local bankers, educators, and human resource agencies. The project will provide financial education to low-income and immigrant populations in the Norfolk area. The project is modeled after the Columbus, Nebraska Workforce Development Money Smart program.


  • In 2002, FDIC Chicago/Chicago City Treasurer/City Colleges of Chicago were honored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago at their Money $mart Awards Reception for helping promote financial education in the Chicagoland area. City Colleges of Chicago, in partnership with the Chicago City Treasure, uses the Money Smart curriculum for a series of financial courses entitled "Our Money Matters." As of June 20, 2003, 1,977 students have attended the financial education courses.


  • On Wednesday October 22, 2003, FDIC Chicago Regional Office will be honored at Citibank's 2nd Annual Hispanic Heritage Award Event. FDIC is being recognized for collaborating with banks and community-based organizations to promote financial education to Spanish-speaking adults and improving access to the U.S. banking system among recent Latin American immigrants.


  • The Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments (NMRCOG), based in Maryville, Missouri, received a 2003 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for their Money Smart Financial Literacy Project. The award was presented at the 36th Annual NADO Training Conference, September 16, 2003, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Money Smart Financial Literacy Project was honored for its innovative promotion of financial education in rural Missouri. To date, over 700 participants have attended a Money Smart class. The Maryville Financial Literacy Project is a partnership between the FDIC, NMRCOG, local bankers, educators, insurance companies, and community services agencies.


  • The NMRCOG also received a NADO Innovation Award for their Jump Start Car Loan Program. The Jump Start Car Loan is open to individuals grossing under $22,000 yearly. Participants may secure a used car with a $50 down payment and a loan payment of between $50 and $100. If during a year, participants pay on time and attend Money Smart classes, the loan will be forgiven. NMRCOG developed the program after discovering that many of their clients looking for jobs lacked automobiles which are essential for traveling in rural areas.


  • In 2003, the local Maryville Wal-Mart provided the Maryville Partnership with a $1,000 dollar grant for its financial education efforts. This is the second year in a row that the Partnership received this award.


  • On May 14, 2003, the employees of Nebraska Workforce Development/Department of Labor office in Columbus, Nebraska, received an award for their leadership efforts in developing partnerships that established the Money Smart program in the area. This award honors staff for their efforts in developing community partnerships for a special project. The special project that they were honored for is the Money Smart program. Columbus is the first community in Nebraska that has initiated this basic financial education program. Money Smart is sponsored by the FDIC, area banks and the Nebraska Workforce Development. Over 300 hundred people have attended Money Smart classes in the last year.


  • In May 2002, the Department of the Treasury awarded a First Accounts Program award in the amount of $271,000 to DeKalb County, Georgia. The DeKalb First Accounts Program, which uses Money Smart as its core curriculum, addresses the needs of individuals without bank accounts. Proposed activities of the First Accounts Program will reduce the number of unbanked households in the county, minimize abusive predatory lending practices, and create lasting relationships between financial institutions and unbanked customers. The two-year target is to move a minimum of 300 previously unbanked consumers into the financial mainstream.
Have you received an award or recognition for your Money Smart initiatives? Tell us about it! Please submit your information to MoneySmartNews@fdic.gov, so we can report it in an upcoming issue of Money Smart News.



Last Updated 08/18/2004 supervision@fdic.gov

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