IDAs are matched savings accounts that allow low-income participants to save and build assets.
CRLA's Individual Development Account (IDA) Program is a unique way of addressing housing issues at the economic root level. IDAs are matched savings accounts that allow low-income participants to save and build assets towards education expenses, starting a business, or buying a home. With this innovative approach to economic and housing inequality, CRLA helps low-income families save and build towards a more secure future.
CRLA's most recent IDA participants have already found a happier ending through education. The husband and wife, who wish to remain anonymous, joined the program in June 2010 and made savings deposits each month until each had saved over $2,000. They learned how to manage money with skills and confidence at monthly leadership and money management trainings offered by CRLA. They also received free legal advice from CRLA concerning their status as first-time homebuyers, and help with repairing and cleaning up their credit so that they were able to secure a loan when the opportunity arose.
The couple's hard work paid off: when they deposited their IDA funds into escrow for the purchase of a new home, CRLA contributed $4,000 in matched funds for each participant (over $8,000 in total). They closed escrow on their home in January 2012; CRLA staff attorney Dylan Saake reports that the program graduates are "thrilled to finally have a place of their own, as well as the skills and confidence to manage and grow their finances for the long term."