Individual Wealth Building

Established in 2007 to address the needs of Latinos in the Greater New Orleans region in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Puentes now works to build assets and create access for and with area Latinos through civic engagement, leadership development, economic asset building, policy, and advocacy.  The nonprofit’s economic asset building program aims to support the economic growth of Latino families and focuses on small business development and homebuyer education.  Puentes serves over 800 New Orleans Latinos a year. Read more about Puentes...

Founded in 1986 based on the principle that decent, affordable housing is essential to health, productivity and self-esteem and that homeownership has a significant effect on children’s success, Neighborhood Development Foundation (NDF) helps low and moderate-income families build assets through homeownership.  Aiming to serve at least 100 low and moderate-income people a year, NDF’s services include homebuyer counseling, education, training, advocacy, and pre- and post-home ownership acquisition assistance. Read more about Neighborhood Development Foundation...

Aiming to create a pathway to self-sufficiency, The Business Center for New Americans provides immigrants, refugees, women, and others microloans, homeownership assistance, and workshops and training focused on business development and financial literacy. It also has an Individual Development Account (IDA) program for low-income refugees, which provides a dollar-for-dollar match for every dollar saved and can be used to fund participants’ small businesses, first homes, and education. Read more about Business Center for New Americans...

Based on the notion that homeownership fosters empowerment, which in turn helps reduce neighborhood blight, deterioration, and poverty, ACTS Housing provides homebuyer counseling, home sales services, and home rehabilitation management services to low-income Milwaukee residents. It works through local churches in three Milwaukee neighborhoods—Central, North Side and South Side. Since 1992, the group is credited with facilitating the sale of 1,579 homes and attracting $106 million of investment dollars into its target neighborhoods. Read more about ACTS Housing...

PACE is a nonprofit community development organization founded in 1976 to address the employment and job training needs of the Pacific Asian Islander communities.  PACE has since expanded into a variety of service areas, all tailored to meet the growing and changing needs of the multi-ethnic communities in Los Angeles County.  Its Business Development Center, which aims to advance wealth by giving individuals the tools to develop sustainable businesses and successfully manage their personal finances, is credited with serving 113,873 low-income people and 10,237 businesses, leveraging over $50 million, and creating or retaining 14,142 jobs since 2003.  Other key programs include job training, employment services, childhood education, housing and rehabilitation services, weatherization and energy-conservation, and affordable housing development.

Aiming to promote individual self-sufficiency and community economic development, the Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative (GCMI) is a Cincinnati-based nonprofit working to nurture entrepreneurship among low- and moderate-income individuals.  Key programs include entrepreneurial training, business classes, business coaching, and financial skills training.  GCMI also provides loans to low to moderate-income residents aiming to start or expand a business, and a matched savings program to help par Read more about Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative, Inc. (GCMI) ...