Best of the Web Links

Asset Funders Network Puget Sound Chapter

Puget Sound AFN is a regional chapter of grantmakers who invest in opportunities for low and moderate-income individuals and families to build economic well-being. Members include private, public, corporate, and community foundations, public-sector funders, and financial institutions who want to help residents of the Puget Sound secure economic stability, for now, and for years to come. Puget Sound AFN connects funders and their peers in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Together they share promising programs and smart strategies, gather knowledge to make their grantmaking more effective, and work to increase investments in asset building.  Learn more>

FTC Workshop:  Changing Demographics, evolving conversations

by Ari Lazarus, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

The Federal Trade Commission, “The Changing Consumer Demographics” workshop examines demographic shifts. As the U.S. population ages and gets more diverse, consumer protection strategies must evolve to make sure we’re protecting all communities. Workshop participants, including expert demographers and leaders in marketing, consumer advocacy, and law enforcement, discussed what the population will look like in the future – and what that means for consumer protection. Read more >

The Pew Charitable Trust – Immigration & States Project

Pew’s work examines the intersection of federal, state, and local immigration laws and policies and the potential impact on all levels of government. Learn more>

•  Mapping Public Benefits for Immigrants in the States
•  Immigration and Legalization
•  US Immigration: National and State Trends and Actions Overview
•  Quiz: Immigrants and the States

Prosperity Now

Prosperity Now believes that “prosperity” starts with financial security—not being one paycheck away from financial disaster. It gains momentum with financial stability – having savings to obtain assets that build wealth, like a house or an education. And it continues with financial mobility – the opportunity to climb the economic ladder for a brighter future.

To ensure everyone has the chance to prosper, Prosperity Now serves a broad, diverse audience across the nation.  Learn more>

Prosperity Now SCORECARD

A comprehensive resource for data on household financial health and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity.
Learn more>

University of Washington West Coast Poverty Center

The West Coast Poverty Center works to bridge the gaps between anti-poverty research, practice, and policy by connecting scholars, policymakers, and practitioners; facilitating important social policy research; magnifying the reach of new knowledge; and fostering the next generation of anti-poverty scholars.

At the UW, the Center mentors the next generation of poverty scholars and practitioners through faculty awards, research assistantships and dissertation fellowships for graduate students, and graduate programs of study. Beyond the university, the Poverty Center works to bring poverty-relevant knowledge to policymakers and practitioners and to engage researchers and policy practitioners in dialogue through outreach, communications, and events. Learn more>

Your Money, Your Goals:  A Financial Empowerment Toolkit for Social Services

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has created, Your Money, Your Goals, a toolkit that social services organizations can use to help their clients choose financial products and build skills in managing money, credit, and debt.  Social services staff can use the toolkit to help clients  dealing with debt and includes tools for:

  • Understanding secured and unsecured debt
  • How much debt is too much?
  • Avoiding debt traps
  • Debt collection
  • Debt management and reduction worksheets
  • Student loan repayment
  • Responding to debt collectors

Learn more>

Help prevent scams aimed at seniors!

The financial education non-profit CENTS has created Senior Money, which is an instructional DVD, companion website, and in-person presentations to teach senior citizens how to spot and avoid all the scams aimed at them.  The video, which features Attorney General Bob Ferguson, has three 35 minute sections: 1) reverse mortgages, 2) scams, and 3) identity theft and estate planning.   Contact Tony Leahy at tony@centsprogram.org or 206-267-7017 if you would like a free DVD or in-person presentation at your facility.  The website has videos and additional resources can be found at www.seniormoneyproject.org.