SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018 | 7A
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“Goodwill supports IDAs that
help you get a job, get a better
job or keep the job you have,”
Duquette said. “That’s our mis-
sion — assist individuals to
overcome barriers to employ-
ment. We work with individuals
who have something going on in
their life that keeps them from
being able to gain or maintain
employment.”
One of the first IDAs shep-
herded through Goodwill is
dental work, which can present
a large barrier to finding gainful
employment, particularly in the
interview process, Duquette ex-
plained.
“The dental program is called
‘First Impressions’ because we
know an employer makes a deci-
sion within the first 90 seconds
if they’re going to hire you,”
Duquette said. “The rest of the
interview is confirming or de-
bunking their initial impression.
We’re a very appearance-ori-
ented society. You need a good
smile to help people be set up
for success.”
For those already employed,
Duquette found that many
workers put off dental work
until it negatively affects their
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work, with the pain becoming
so extreme that it hinders their
employment.
The savings time frame for
the dental IDA is shorter, with
a much broader matching grant,
5:1.
If a person saves $600 in no
less than 6 months, they will
be awarded $3,000. If they save
$1,000 in 12 to 18 months, they
will receive a $5,000 match.
“Before you get accepted into
the program, we have to have a
written estimate by the dentist
and a treatment plan,” Duquette
said. “Most of the time, it’s quite
extreme. I actually had an indi-
vidual who is applying for her
second dental IDA. The total
bill was $15,000 for all the work
because she needed multiple im-
plants, and that’s with insurance
paying.”
IDAs can also be used to pur-
chase a vehicle to get to and
from work.
“Transportation is a huge bar-
rier to employment, especially
if you’re out in somewhere like
Florence,” Duquette said. “If
there’s only so many employ-
ment opportunities in your im-
mediate area, sometimes you
have to travel or commute. We
recognize that.”
The vehicle IDA is a 3:1 basis.
If a person saves $2,000 over the
span of one year and one day,
they will receive $6,000 in addi-
tional funds. If they save $3,000
in two years and one day, they
will receive $9,000 additional
funds. The two-year investment
would end up giving someone
$12,000 to buy a new car.
“It could also be very good
for a down payment,” Duquette
said. “I see a lot of people who
have good credit, but they just
don’t have the disposable in-
come to be able to buy a new car.
By using $12,000 as a down pay-
ment, that puts a $23,000 vehicle
down into the range where they
can afford the payments.”
If a person purchases a car
that costs less than what they
have saved in their IDA, they
can use the remainder toward
car insurance for up to six
months.
IDAs can also be used for
education, including four-year
colleges, community colleges,
certification programs and con-
tinuing education.
“These are for accredited pro-
grams, but they don’t have to be
for college,” Duquette said. “If
someone wants to go after their
commercial driving license or
become a certified nursing as-
sistant, programs are available.
If someone wants to go to beau-
ty school and it is an accredit-
ed program, people can use an
IDA for it, even if the program
does not offer traditional finan-
cial aid.”
Duquette pointed out that
careers often require additional
study, such as advanced train-
ing that would further career
goals.
“For example, with massage
therapy, if they want to study
other modalities, like acupres-
sure, the cost of that training
can be used with their IDA,”
Duquette said.
Massage therapy is popular
among people seeking IDAs.
“It’s a non-credit pro-
gram, but it is a growth field,”
Duquette said. “If they’re go-
ing just for a certificate or li-
cense-based program that does
not accept financial aid, then
it can only be used for tuition,
fees and educational expenses
such as supplies. No cost of liv-
ing, no personal expenses.”
However, IDAs can be used
for cost of living expenses for
colleges and universities.
“If the education that they
are pursuing qualifies for finan-
cial aid, it’s a credit program,”
Duquette said. “If they’re going
after nursing, and it qualifies
for financial aid, they can use it
for the cost of attendance. Cost
of attendance is tuition, fees,
living expenses, transportation,
books. That all goes into cost of
attendance.”
For certification IDAs, $360
will be matched with $1,080 af-
ter 6 to 18 months.
For education, $1,000 saved
in at least six months will net
$3,000 in matched grants;
$2,000 in 12 to 24 months will
be $6,000; and $3,000 in 24 to
36 months will be $9,000.
When a person applies for an
IDA, they will be asked exactly
why they need one.
For example, if someone is
looking for education assistance,
they would be asked what par-
ticular field they are pursuing,
and why.
“How is this going to make
you more employable?” asked
Duquette. “Why is this going to
help you get a job, get a better
job or keep the job you have?”
They will then be asked why
they need the IDA and what
their particular financial cir-
cumstances are that would re-
quire assistance.
To qualify for the program, a
number of prerequisites must be
met, the first being income.
For residents of Lane County,
the maximum household in-
come is $38,000 for a one-per-
son family, $44,250 for a
two-person family and $49,800
for the three-person family. In-
come thresholds go up from
there, depending on the size of
the household.
Second, applicants will go
through an asset assessment.
“We ask you to list your cur-
rent assets, the things that you
own, and then take a look at the
things that you owe,” Duquette
said. “If you still have students
loans you’re still paying on, we
want the big scary number. We
want the principal you bor-
rowed, and the interest. That’s
what you owe.”
They subtract the liabilities
from the assets, and if the num-
ber is $20,000 or less, the person
qualifies.
In addition, the IDAs are not
solely geared toward younger in-
dividuals looking to get a leg up
in the world. If a retiree is work-
ing 15 hours a week, for exam-
ple, they too would be eligible
for the program.
“This works for people who
want to supplement their in-
come,” Duquette said. “They
work because they don’t want
to stay at home, or they want to
be more sociable. Even though
whatever income they have is
enough to sustain them, it’s not
enough to do any kind of build-
ing of wealth and assets. If they
need a car to supplement their
income to work, which happens
a lot, and the car that they have
is not going to survive, they
could qualify.”
Having a job is also not a pre-
requisite to receive an IDA, as
long as an individual has earned
or unearned income, like unem-
ployment.
“If you are not employed but
are looking for a job and just ha-
ven’t found one, we’ll work with
you,” Duquette said.
She pointed out that the new
Goodwill retail store in Flor-
ence, 1310 Highway 101, has
a job connection office to help
with resumes and interviewing.
Another requirement for an
IDA is that an individual main-
tains Oregon residency. If the
person moves out of state per-
manently, the IDA is cashed out.
However, this is not to say that
someone living outside the state
could lose the IDA.
“If you are going to California
to go to school, and you main-
tain your Oregon residence, you
can continue with your IDA,”
Duquette said. “That’s good for
a lot of young adults whose par-
ents are still in state and main-
taining that Oregon residence.”
There are other requirements,
including the ability to pay a
minimum of $25 a month into
the IDA, retirement funds for
the household cannot exceed
$60,000 and participants cannot
have any judgements, garnish-
ments or lawsuits.
Once the application is ap-
proved, eight hours of financial
training is required.
“This is stuff to help you im-
prove your finances,” Duquette
said. “We want you to do it be-
fore your IDA, so you can see
your improvement along the
way. By the time you graduate,
we want you to have this knowl-
edge and develop a savings hab-
it, so that hopefully you won’t
have a need to use the program
again.”
There are multiple ways to
take the training, from fee-based
online services to free one-on-
one sessions with Goodwill staff.
While the program works out
a savings plan with individuals
to set aside monthly payments,
it’s possible for people to pay the
full amount before the IDA ma-
tures. In that instance, individ-
uals will be required to make a
minimum monthly payment of
$25 to keep the IDA active.
“That’s to keep the savings
habit going,” Duquette said.
But what if someone de-
cides they don’t need to follow
through with their IDA?
“If at nine months, someone
gives you a car or you get in a
relationship with someone with
a car, whatever you have depos-
ited is yours,” Duquette said.
“Any interest accrued is yours,
though that would be very lit-
tle. You can walk away from
the program and get everything
you invested back. The match
funds go back into the pool.”
Overall, Duquette said that
she hopes that people in rural
communities discover the op-
portunities that IDAs can pro-
vide.
For more information on
Goodwill’s IDAs, and to begin
the process to sign up for one,
Duquette will be holding an in-
formation meeting on Tuesday,
Sept. 25, at 9:30 a.m. at Siu-
slaw Public Library’s Bromley
Room, located at 1460 Ninth
St. in Florence.
For those who can’t at-
tend, Duquette is available at
trystad@goodwill-oregon.org
or 541-431-3307.
Visit us on
the web
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