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3 <br />Application Summary <br />FY2005 Community Development Block Grant Program <br />Individual Development Account (IDA) Program <br />Background <br />Individual Development Accounts are dedicated savings accounts, similar in <br />structure to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) that can only be used for purchasing <br />a first home in Orange County, They are managed by community organizations and <br />accounts are held at local financial institutions. Contributions for lower income <br />participants are matched using both private and public sources, Additionally, all <br />participants receive economic literacy training that shows them how to clean up their <br />credit, set up a budgeting and savings schedule, and teaches them the basics of money <br />management, <br />The N.C. Department of Commerce and the Division of Community Assistance <br />has set aside approximately $300,000 of Small Cities Community Development Block <br />Grant Funds for use in establishing IDAs. These funds will be awarded to applicants <br />supporting homeownership IDA programs. <br />Program Administrator <br />The Women's Center (TWC) successfully administered the County's FY 2001 IDA <br />program assisting 11 families in buying their first homes. TWC is very interested in <br />continuing to administer this program as a continuation of the prior years' program, The <br />organizations will carry out the key components of the program including outreach and <br />marketing, credit counseling, economic literacy training, financial counseling, account <br />monitoring and post-purchase counseling. <br />TWC will be working with several partners in the administration of this IDA program and <br />has the support of these partners: <br />Orange County <br />Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, NC, Inc. <br />EmPOWERment, Inc. <br />Orange Community Housing & Land Trust <br />SunTrust Bank <br />Brief Program Description <br />Twenty accounts will be set up for this IDA program. This is an appropriate number of <br />accounts considering the amount of funding available and staff time necessary to <br />administer the program. <br />Participants will be required to save a full $1000 during the course of the IDA program, <br />Savings account will be opened with a minimum $50 initial deposit and participants will <br />