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Financial Education

Financial Education

These lists are provided for informational purposes only and are not comprehensive. Please send updates, suggestions or information about other resources to [email protected].

Financial Literacy Resources

Home Ownership Resources

Financial Aid for Students Impacted by Disability

About ABLE Accounts

Financial Literacy Resources

Northwest Access Fund

We provide free one-on-one financial coaching for people with disabilities in Washington and Oregon. Contact Financial Capability Manager Megan.

The Arc Oregon – Financial Literacy Project

The Arc Oregon provides free money management training, with a focus on navigating disability service systems and restrictions, through a classroom program or one-on-one support. To request a training, email or call.

Washington Nonprofits – Financial Education Providers

For a list of local nonprofits who provide financial education information, classes, and workshops, visit this link.

Seattle-King County – Financial Education Resources

For a list of free financial literacy classes in Seattle-King County, please visit this link.

American Financial Solutions

American Financial Solutions offers free financial education classes online. For information on potential in-person workshops and classes, contact Education and Communication Director, Becky House.

  • Phone: 888-282-5494, ext. 1114.

Financial Beginnings

Financial Beginnings empowers youth and adults to take control of their financial future. They provide educational programs that incorporate all aspects of personal finance to give individuals the foundation they need to make informed financial decisions.

FDIC Money Smart Program

The FDIC Money Smart Program offers modules on banking and credit basics, money management, saving, protecting one’s identity and privacy, consumer rights, credit reporting, responsible use of credit cards, using loans and purchasing a home.

Financial Education Public-Private Partnership (FEPPP)

In 2009 legislature passed SHB 1347, extending the efforts of Financial Literacy Public-Private Partnership (FLPPP) by creating FEPPP. The committee brings together individuals from both the public and private sector in an effort to provide quality financial education for students in the public school system.

Alpha One – Financial Freedom

Alpha One provides information to help you gain the money management skills that will help you along your path to financial freedom, including a great section on assistive technology.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Financial Planning

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society provides a detailed guide to financial planning for those who have MS. This guide covers a range of issues including money management, job development, assistive technology, benefits planning and special needs trust and estate planning issues.

Home Ownership Resources

National Resources

HomeChoice Program for People with Disabilities

HomeChoice is a down payment assistance program for low-to-moderate income individuals with disabilities or families which include individuals with disabilities. To be eligible, you must be a first-time homebuyer or you must purchase in a targeted area.

Habitat for Humanity

Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat for Humanity builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses alongside homeowner partner families. There are many affiliate offices throughout Washington State and Oregon. Find your local Habitat using this link.

NeighborWorks America

NeighborWorks America is the country’s preeminent leader in affordable housing and community development. They work to create opportunities for low-income people to live in affordable homes in safe, sustainable neighborhoods that are healthy places for families to grow. Find a NeighborWorks network organization near you using this link.

HUD – Resources for Individuals with Disabilities

HUD’s Resources for Individuals with Disabilities page is designed to answer frequently asked questions on the housing rights of people with disabilities and the responsibilities of housing providers and building and design professionals under federal law.

Disability.gov

Disability.gov connects the disability community to information and opportunities. Their website will give you information and opportunities regarding homeownership and rental assistance programs.

Washington

Parkview Services Homeownership Program

If you live in King, Skagit or Snohomish Counties and have a disability, you may qualify for Parkview Service’s Homeownership Program. They provide homebuyer education, pre-purchase counseling, budget counseling, and home maintenance workshops. They also provide HomeChoice, a downpayment assistance, second mortgage loan program for qualified borrowers who have a disability or who have a family member with a disability living with them.

Pre-Purchase Program Manager: Marnie Claywell

Mortgage Default Program Manager: Loren Shekell

  • Phone: 206-542-6644 ext. 125

HomeChoice Contact: Dietrich Schmitz

Pierce County Coalition for Developmental Disabilities (PC2)

PC2 empowers individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Visit their website to learn more about their housing program.

  • Phone: 253-564-0707

NeighborWorks of Grays Harbor County

NeighborWorks of Grays Harbor County works to revitalize the communities of Grays Harbor County through affordable housing opportunities, education, financial assistance, lending coordination, and technical assistance.

  • Phone: 360-533-7828

HomeSight

HomeSight is a NeighborWorks Home Ownership Center serving Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Tacoma. They offer first-time homebuyer education, financial counseling, purchase assistance, new home development, and first mortgage originations.

  • Phone: 206-760-4205

Community Frameworks

Community Frameworks has home ownership opportunities in Spokane and Bremerton, including first-time homebuyer programs with affordable monthly payments to qualified buyers. The program provides 100% financing and both down payment and closing cost assistance.

  • Phone – Spokane Office: 509-484-6733
  • Phone – Bremerton Office: 360-377-7738

Homestead Community Land Trust

Homestead is dedicated to expanding opportunity, strengthening community, and empowering future generations by providing permanently affordable homes in Seattle and King County. Land Trust ownership means that you are able to purchase a home at a lower price (typically $50,000-$100,000 below market prices) because the land remains part of the land trust.

Washington Home Ownership Resource Center

The Washington Homeownership Resource Center is a community-sponsored non-profit agency that works throughout Washington State to help make dreams of homeownership into reality.

Oregon

NeighborWorks Umpqua

NeighborWorks Umpqua provides quality housing, community development, property management, financial services, education, and advocacy in Southern Oregon. They also offer a matched savings (IDA) program, Dream$avers, to eligible individuals.

  • Phone – Roseburg Office: 541-673-4909
  • Phone – North Bend Office: 541-756-1000

Portland Housing Center

Portland Housing Center offers home buyer education, one-on-one guidance, financial services, and a variety of other resources to make homeownership a reality for Portland-area residents.

  • Phone: 503-282-7744

ACCESS

ACCESS is a certified HUD Housing Counseling Agency and an Oregon Regional Housing Center that serves Jackson and Josephine Counties. Their Homeownership Center offers education, counseling, guidance, and assistance to people who need help purchasing a home or maintaining homeownership.

Native American Youth and Family Center

The Native American Youth and Family Center’s Homeownership Program provides culturally specific homeownership coaching, education, and programming to help individuals plan to buy and keep a home. They are a HUD-approved counseling agency, working to close the Native homeownership gap. Contact Daniela Macias, Homeownership Program Administrative Specialist, to learn more.

Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, Inc. (CCNO)

CCNO is a HUD-approved counseling agency for Baker, Grant, Union, and Wallowa Counties that exists to help homeowners and prospective homeowners with services related to obtaining or retaining a primary residency. Services include education and individual counseling, referrals, mortgage payment assistance, foreclosure intervention counseling, and IDA accounts. To learn more, contact Housing Resource Center Manager Debbie.

Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative (OHSI)

OHSI offers fixed income support, reverse mortgage support, past due mortgage support, and property tax support for homeowners in need. Apply online here.

Polk Community Development Corporation (Polk CDC)

Polk CDC is a Regional Housing Center that offers homeownership information and support in Polk County, including counseling/foreclosure preventions, classes for first time homeownerships, IDAs, and home repair loans.

Proud Ground

Proud Ground works to help low-income families and Households of Color achieve homeownership in Clackamas, Clark, Lincoln, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. Using a Community Land trust model, they educate and counsel homebuyers, administer grant funding to create affordable homebuying opportunities, and manage the entire real estate process on behalf of the homebuyer. To see if you qualify and begin an application, go here. For more information, contact Ryan Parker, Homeownership Program Coordinator.

Financial Aid for Students Impacted by Disability

OnlineSchools.org: Financial Aid for Disabled Students Directory

This financial aid and scholarship guide for students with disabilities provides a list of numerous scholarship options for students with disabilities that range from national financial aid opportunities to local opportunities within the United States and Canada. Each scholarship profile indicates whether online programs at accredited colleges or universities are eligible for the award.

The Mesothelioma Group Scholarship

The Mesothelioma Group offers a $4,000 scholarship to student whose life has been affected by cancer. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited high school, four-year university, community college, or graduate degree program.

The Jane Calmes ALS Scholarship

The Jane Calmes ALS Scholarship Fund provides funding for students whose finances have been negatively impacted due to having ALS or having a parent, guardian, or family member with ALS. High school seniors, graduates, and current undergraduates are eligible to apply for funding of $5,000 per year, renewable for up to three years.

About ABLE Accounts

ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged accounts that allow people with disabilities to save without jeopardizing their benefits. They were made possible by the 2014 Stephen Beck Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, better known as the ABLE Act. To be eligible to open an ABLE account, individuals must meet disability requirements for SSI or SSDI, or obtain a “disability certification” from a doctor. There is also a significant age restriction to eligibility: an individual’s disability must have onset before they turned 26 years old. They can be any age when they apply, so long as the onset of disability began prior to their 26th birthday. 

ABLE account funds can be used on qualified disability expenses, a broad category that includes any expense that allows the account owner to increase or maintain their health, independence, and/or quality of life. Examples of qualified expenses include those related to education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, assistive technology, personal support services, health care expenses, and financial management.

We know ABLE accounts can be confusing, so we have assembled some useful tip sheets below.

Washington State ABLE Savings Plan Fact Sheet

This document provides an overview of Washington State ABLE program features, from the minimum to open an account ($25) to account limitations and qualified expenses.

Washington State Developmental Disabilities (DD) Endowment Trust Fund vs. ABLE Savings Plan

This useful comparison sheet between the Washington State DD Endowment Trust Fund and the Washington State ABLE Savings Plan explains who they’re for, what they are, contribution and spending limits, taxes, what happens if the beneficiary passes away, and costs associated with each type of account.

ABLE Account, Special Needs and Pooled Trust Comparison Chart

This document compares ABLE accounts, Pooled Trusts, and Special Needs Trusts (first party and third party). These are general comparisons that are not tied to any one state’s particular programs.