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Benita Melton, a program officer at the Mott Foundation, is convinced that IDAs represent a "march toward progress." She remains a staunch supporter, despite signs that the ground in the IDA industry may be shifting beneath her. Yet in explaining Mott's long-term commitment to funding asset building, she raises the bar on any social welfare policy or tool that claims to address the root causes of poverty. "Mott will have to answer the question, five, 10 years, maybe even further down the line: Are their homes still there, have their homes appreciated, are people better off, have they adopted new savings and checking behavior? We may even have to look at the effects on their children."

City Limits Magazine


September/October 2004:
From El Barrio to the Boonies

News Topics
The Economy
Government
IDAs are not about to lead poor people to the promised land. And any newfangled asset-building tools like baby bonds will have to answer to critics leery of privatized, indivdualized responses to America's structural and social failures. But IDAs and their supporters may have already helped to fundamentally move the antipoverty debate from a static, income-based analysis to a consideration of how people are able to project a change in their social status across generations. Hopefully, the next "new thing" in the antipoverty struggle will have to answer to a higher authority--the future.

Sidebar: Individual Development Account programs in New York City

    Fifth Avenue Committee
    www.fifthave.org
    Objective: To obtain training and licensing for higher-paid employment.
    Participants to date: 38
    Matching funds: Each $1 saved matched by $3 for depositors up to 100 percent federal poverty level; each $1 matched by $2 for up to 200 percent poverty level.
    Total deposited: $35,877
    Amount saved: Up to $4,800.
    Sponsorship: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Assets for Independence Demonstration Program), Independence Community Foundation

    Mount Hope Housing Company
    www.mounthopehousing.org
    Objective: To help Bronx residents buy a home, start a business or obtain higher education.
    Participants to date: 132
    Matching funds: Each $1 saved is matched by $2.
    Amount saved: Up to $4,500 per depositor.
    Total deposited: $343,755
    Sponsorship: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Citibank, Fleet Bank, NYC Community Foundation, HSBC, Con-Ed, Deutsche Bank, M&T Bank

    New York Association for New Americans
    www.nyana.org
    Objective: For refugees seeking to start a business, purchase a home, pay tuition, enroll in job training courses or purchase technology.
    Participants to date: 776
    Matching funds: Each $1 saved is matched by $2.
    Average amount saved: Up to $3,000 for individuals and $6,000 for families.
    Total deposited: $1.9 million
    Sponsorship: Dept of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement

    Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union
    www.lespfcu.org
    Objective: For credit union members, savings for tuition or small business start-ups.
    Participants to date: 30
    Matching funds: Each $1 saved is matched by $1.
    Amount saved: Up to $2,000.
    Total deposited: $60,000
    Sponsorship: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, AFIA demonstration project