Personal Finance Programs
Financial Counseling
While the goal of most of our counseling sessions is to tie them to housing or business, there are cases when clients request other types of financial counseling. In these cases, we work with participants to review budgets, develop spending plans, pull their credit, or meet other personal financial goals. This may include reviewing take home courses for the IDA Program.
Financial Education
WSCAT offers HUD-approved financial education using Oweesta’s Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families curriculum. The six-module course takes place over 12 hours, usually in six 2-hour courses.
Topics include:
Building a Healthy Economy
Developing a Spending Plan
Working with Checking and Savings Accounts
Understanding Credit and Youth Credit Report
Using Credit
Being a Smart Consumer
By the end of the course, participants will be able to understand how to be financially secure to meet their financial and/or housing goals. All participants are offered one-on-one counseling, if they would like additional support.
WSCAT also offers a youth version of this course Building Native Communities: Financial Empowerment for Teens and Young Adults, which consists of seven modules. This is used for our youth programming, during both our summer workforce program and in partnership with Madras High School. Topics covered in the youth curriculum are similar to those in the adult course, but focus more on setting the youth up for self-sufficiency as adults. Topics include developing a spending plan, money management, savings for education or emergencies, and buying a home.
Both the adult and youth courses bring in traditional knowledge and examples from our Native ancestors and relate them back to today's financial environment.
Online Resources
Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families (Curriculum)
Asset-Specific Education Courses
Assistive Technology Curriculum
In an area where resources can be scarce, one of your most valuable assets is your dependability to maintain a high level of productivity. Acquiring assistive technology is crucial for meeting basic needs. This plan is to help facilitate the steps to purchase assistive technology. It will help you research options, make purchasing decisions, and understand your finance and maintenance options.
Debt Repayment Curriculum
When resources are scarce and options are limited, people sometimes take out loans to get them through challenging times. Paying down these loans may be crucial in making ends meet and in helping you qualify for better (e.g., loans with lower interest rates) and important (e.g., home and auto) loans in the future. This plan is to help you pay down loans, reducing debt so that you may pursue financial and personal goals. It will also provide you with the tools to establish an emergency savings fund, to assist you in coping with and overcoming unexpected challenges in the future.
Career Education Curriculum
This course of study is to assist Warm Springs community members in plotting an educational program in line with their career goals and within their financial reach, per Oregon IDA Initiative program requirements. Participants will learn how to appreciate the current employment opportunities for a given career, assess how their education thus far has prepared them for next steps, and make educated decisions between different programs and finance options.
Home Renovation Curriculum
This course of study is to provide Warm Springs Tribal and community members with an understanding of how to improve, modify, or repair their primary residence. A home is one of your biggest investments, so you want to protect it and start planning for future repairs. To complete the course, community members are required to study and gain an understanding of various topics, including maintaining a home, understanding a home’s features, scheduling home maintenance and repairs, prioritizing home repairs, and avoiding problems with contractors.
Vehicle Purchase Curriculum
Living in a rural community, it may be difficult to get from one location to another. One of your most valuable assets is your dependability to be on time and maintain a high level of productivity. Acquiring reliable transportation is crucial to meet basic needs. This plan will help you facilitate the steps to purchase your own vehicle. It will help you research transportation options, make purchasing decisions, understand your finance options and maintain your vehicle for the long term.
Rental Curriculum
In an area where housing is not widely available, there are often multiple generations of families living in the same household. People want to continue to live on the reservation, but often have a hard time purchasing a home. The ability to find a safe, affordable rental is crucial to stability. This course is to help facilitate the process of finding a place to rent.
Hiring Employees for Business
This course of study is to assist community members in finding the right employees to meet their business needs and understand the laws required to do so, per Oregon IDA Initiative program requirements. It also enables participants to consider their desired workplace culture,