Online registration is now closed. Please email register@philanthropynewyork.org.
A Philanthropy New York program presented by its policy committee Philanthopy Connects, co-sponsored by Asset Funders Network and the New York City Workforce Development Funders Group.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: All interested funders.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Did you know that
- 825,000 New York City adults have no bank accounts and have to rely on check cashers (who charge a fee) to cash their pay checks?
- Families without bank accounts are considerably more likely to rely on pawn brokers and “refund anticipation loans” than those with bank accounts?
- About twice as many households without bank or credit union accounts couldn’t pay their rent in the last year as those with bank accounts?
And did you know that the Department of Consumer Affairs has made it possible for very low-income families to open no-fee Safe Start bank accounts – avoiding check-cashing fees and building their financial assets?
Or that the Department of Consumer Affairs has created a $ave NYC Account that provides matching funds for families who direct their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or tax refund into a savings account and keep it there for a year?
Or that the Department of Consumer Affairs worked with the Department of Youth and Community Development to create the NYC First Account that enables Summer Youth Employment Program participants to open their first bank accounts, get direct deposit, free online banking and bill pay, and a no overdraft debit card – developing both a credit history and a habit of sound financial practice?
If you didn’t know these facts – or that DCA has created an employer-based post-tax savings account that enables low-income families automatically to build their assets, helped thousands of families files for their EITC, and built a citywide network of free tax preparation assistance – then we offer you the opportunity to learn more about what the Department of Consumer Affairs does to help low-income New Yorkers from age 14 to age 88 build their financial assets and develop financial stability – and to help low-income communities become economically sustainable. If you did know about these programs, we offer you the opportunity to delve more deeply into their rationales, challenges, and successes.
We invite you to a dialogue between John Weiler, Senior Program Officer of The F.B. Heron Foundation, which supports programs that enable low-income people and communities to create wealth, and Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, who has created within DCA an Office of Financial Empowerment that has won national recognition for its innovative efforts to make economic sustainability possible – and even the norm – for low-income New Yorkers.
PRESENTERS
- Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.
- John Weiler, Senior Program Officer of The F.B. Heron Foundation.
OTHER INFORMATION: Please contact register@philanthropynewyork.org with questions.