Donor Impact Report: Helping People Save
Helping people save
In collaboration with AARP and funded by Bank of America, our women’s programs worked to increase retirement savings through adoption of automatic 401(k) plans, specifically to industries with increased numbers of female employees. An information booklet with tip sheet has been used to reach out to women and business owners directly and online. Also, an on-line advertising campaign to promote AARP’s Retirement Calculator has encouraged 112,000 to analyze their retirement financial needs.
Over 32,000 AARP Tax-Aide volunteers at 7,027 sites helped 2.2 million taxpayers needing free help file their taxes, thus avoiding costly fees. Eighty-two percent of federal returns were filed electronically, and volunteers worked to put over $159 million dollars in the pockets of nearly 150,000 low and moderate income recipients through the Earned Income Tax Credit. Tax-Aide services are offered in over 20 languages.
Connecting to resources that can help
Benefits QuickLink—Launched in February, this new streamlined tool has helped over 51,000 individuals and families with limited incomes or serious health problems find and apply for federal and state benefits online. Four new organizations, for a total of 18, use Benefits QuickLink with their clients.
Prepare to Care, an outreach campaign featuring a care giving planning guide for families is another important new program that has been well reviewed by families and professionals alike. The planning guide assists families in understanding care giving needs and roles, making decisions on the care of loved ones, connecting with resources to help and preserving income and assets in the process. The campaign reaches families through the workplace and includes encouraging business to engage in supportive family care giving policies.
Last year, our Grandparenting Program directly reached 2300 of the growing numbers of grandparents and other kin who are raising young children, and screened an additional 3,000 “grand-families” through Benefits Quick Link so these needy grandparents can access important public benefits. Thanks to a generous grant from New York Life Foundation, expanded services are offered for grandparents in New York State. Casey Family Programs has provided funding to improve state-specific fact sheets that explain available benefits, and for improved marketing and outreach.
Our participating grandmothers are women like Phyllis, raising two young grandchildren. Failing to find affordable day care, Phyllis lost her job, then her apartment. Facing eviction from a hotel, Phyllis called our Grandparenting Coordinator who arranged for a job through the Foundation’s senior employment program, and for the financial assistance she needed to care for the children.
Forty percent of women’s scholarship recipients are grandmothers or other relatives raising children and many WorkSearch clients are grandparent caregivers.
Preserving financial independence
With seed support from an anonymous donor, the Isaac H. Tuttle Fund, and the New York Community Trust, a three-year Money Management pilot project in NYC now serves low-income frail elderly. The program is a community-based civic engagement initiative designed to help seniors age in place in their homes and neighborhoods. Volunteers provide daily support in managing personal finances, which also provides a safeguard from financial insecurity and exploitation. The program teams AARP Foundation with local social service agencies and provides very attractive volunteer opportunities.
Money Management provides intensive long-term service to over 6,000 vulnerable seniors in 24 states.
Dorrine is 86 with severe arthritis and some dementia. Her neighbor noticed her walking away from the bank with $200 cash still in her hand and offered help, learning that Dorrine did not know which bills she had paid. Another New York senior, 84-year-old Frances, had always excelled in math, but after three strokes, keeping up with her finances became too difficult. Now, Money Management volunteers visit both Dorrine and Frances, coming to their apartments to help pay bills, balance their checkbooks and keep track of their finances. Both are able to continue living independently without fear of financial abuse.
Consumers are able to remain independent in their own homes thanks to the Reverse Mortgage Education Project. Thanks to a grant from HUD, the project last year educated, in both English and Spanish, 416,000 seeking to make an informed decision about their reverse mortgage choices. Special training provided to financial counselors amplifies the program’s impact. More >
