PATHWorks Newsletter: SEPTEMBER 2019
FSS - Employment - Asset Building - Finances - Community Events - Overcoming Barriers - Housing Works Updates - Resources
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PATHWorks Summer Event
Thank you to all the families that joined us and made our 2019 PATHWorks summer pool party a huge success! On August 24th, the PATHWorks program hosted a pool party for our current PATHWorks participants in Bend at Juniper Pool. Everyone had a great time swimming, eating pizza, and soaking up the sun.
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Samantha B. and her daughter Amelia
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FSS Participants Marsha and Thomas P. and Keddah C. with FSS Program Manager Andy Hall
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Dana swimming with her kids
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FSS Coordinator's Vanessa Casaubon and Andy Hall
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Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence will be among the Top 10 most desirable job skills in 2020
according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, differentiate, and manage our emotions and the emotions of others in our environment. Emotional intelligence is quantified as the Emotional Quotient (EQ), which is scored by measurable test results agreed upon by leading psychologists. It has been more commonly believed that people who are the "smartest" or had the highest IQ would be the most likely to succeed. There has been a shift in this mindset though, and now Emotional Intelligence is the forefront of what employers are looking for in the workplace. The great news is that emotional intelligence can be learned and enhanced in order to be a more effective person, employee, and leader.
The key skills for building your EQ and improving your ability to manage emotions and connect with others are:
- Self-awareness: being aware of your current moods and emotions. To increase self-awareness, learn about mindfulness. Focus on the present moment. Keep a journal and analyze your emotional situations. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and ask for feedback.
- Self-regulation: manage your emotions effectively. Take responsibility for your actions and behaviors and make sure they align with your values.
- Motivation: develop self-discipline. Set short- and long-term goals and celebrate your wins.
- Empathy: the ability to recognize other people's emotions and understand their perspectives. Think about others viewpoints. Imagine how they may be feeling and use active listening skills to understand them fully by listening to their body language with your eyes and use your ears to hear what they are saying.
- Social Skills: the ability to build rapport and manage relationships. Develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.
A high IQ is great, but emotional intelligence is also highly valuable. It enables us to understand ourselves, connect with others, and excel personally and professionally.
Check our your own Emotional Intelligence in an an informal quiz
here.
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Habitat for Humanity Expands in Central Oregon
Bend Habitat for Humanity is now Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity and is excited to expand their housing program and services into Redmond!
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit housing organization. Habitat’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat works toward this vision by building and improving homes in partnership with individuals and families in need of a decent and affordable place to live.
Families and individuals in need of decent, affordable housing can apply for homeownership with their local Habitat for Humanity.
Each local Habitat’s family selection committee selects homeowners based on three criteria:
- The applicant's level of need.
- Their willingness to partner with Habitat.
- Their ability to repay a mortgage through an affordable payment plan.
Attend an Information Session in Redmond on September 19th from 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm. Check out the links and flyers below for more information.
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3 Ways to Build Your Credit Score
When you apply for credit such as a credit card or a car loan, credit companies and lenders check your credit reports and credit scores. This helps the credit companies and lenders learn about how you have managed money in the past. If you have a long history of effectively managing credit and making payments on time, you're likely to have a
good credit score
and will be more likely to be awarded the credit card or loan with favorable terms and rates (i.e. lower interest rates, higher available limits). If you've never used credit or have negative information on your credit report, such as missed payments, you may be less likely to secure a loan or credit card. If you do get the loan or credit card, you may get less favorable rates.
Building credit takes time, so it's important to begin building your credit before you really need it.
Building credit can seem like a complex or overwhelming task, but there are many effective ways to help build and maintain strong credit scores.
The Consumer Financial and Protection Bureau created a video that highlights three options for building credit over time called
“3 Ways to Build Your Credit Score”.
- Secured Credit Cards
- Credit Builder Loan
- Retail Store Cards
Check out the video below and explore more
guides
on building and maintaining good credit on their credit portal page.
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Seeking services? Contact the FAN advocate at your child’s school
here
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Family Access Network
FAN's Mission: To offer assistance, possibility and hope to Central Oregon families in need by connecting them with crucial resources that will help children flourish in school and in life. FAN is unique to Central Oregon, located in all public schools in Deschutes County and in Prineville. Working through a dedicated FAN advocate, a child or parent is connected to essential services such as food, shelter, heating, health care, clothing and more.
FAN advocates link children and families to critical basic need services with the goal of keeping children healthy and in school. FAN provides a direct and convenient way within the school to connect children to vital resources. FAN advocates support families, removing barriers and paving the way for a child’s success.
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Barriers and Overcoming Them
Starting with our next newsletter in November, we will be choosing a different topic bi-monthly to highlight a possible barrier to employment, to strengthen your financial capability, and address other challenges that may be holding you back from achieving your goals. Our goal as Family Self-Sufficiency Coordinators is to work directly with our participants to leverage community resources to help our clients overcome any barriers they may have on their road to self-sufficiency.
Some of these topics may include but are not limited to:
- health
- childcare
- transportation
- criminal record
- self-confidence
- lack of access to resources
- low educational attainment and/or low skills
Check out our upcoming newsletters for solutions to overcoming barriers to self-sufficiency.
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Red Canyon - Madras
In early 2004, Housing Works, the City of Madras, Jefferson County, and CASA of Oregon began collaboration to address severe blight in one of the worst neighborhoods in Madras, “Jefferson Street”. Shortly thereafter, the Jefferson Street Redevelopment Project was created, providing the first steps for renewal in the neighborhood. The project annexed portions of the neighborhood into City limits, extended sewer services, and demolished obsolete housing. To continue the renewal efforts to revitalize the Jefferson Street neighborhood, Housing Works will capitalize on land currently owned by the housing authority to bring an additional 23 affordable apartments to the City of Madras.
The development will utilize a hyper-efficient three-story design and lean construction/continuous improvement methods of building to reduce the duration of construction and keep overall costs low. Lower costs will allow the development to target 30% of the apartments to the most vulnerable households earning less than 30% of Average Median Income (AMI). Rents will range from $300 - $675 depending on income qualifications. The development will be an attractive craftsman exterior design with open floor plans that include substantial focus on efficient and durable building systems. The attention on efficient design will keep resident utility costs low and owner operational costs low, promoting long-term financial stability. The development also includes the creation of a public park that will be accessible by the residents and the surrounding neighborhood.
Housing Works expects to break ground on this property in October and complete construction in August 2020. More information will be made available as the development process progresses and timelines become more certain.
Housing Works is partnering with the
Latino Community Association (LCA), a community organization that connects Latino persons to various community services. A housing navigator at LCA will be the first point of contact for potential renters.
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Senate Bill 608
The Oregon Legislature passed new laws to protect more renters from no-cause evictions and large rent increases. As of February 28, 2019, these laws are in effect.
SB 608 does two important things:
- Limits no-cause evictions. Tenants who have been in their current home for a year or more can no longer be evicted without a reason. IMPORTANT: There are a few exceptions to the limit on no-cause.
- Limits how much landlords can increase the rent each year. The new laws limit rent increases to 7% plus the average amount of inflation over the past twelve months, as published in the prior September. For 2019, the applicable rate of inflation is 3.3%. That means your landlord cannot raise your rent more than 10.3% (7% + 3.3%) in 2019. IMPORTANT: the rent increase limit only applies to buildings that are 15 years old or older.
Click on the image below to read the summary of the bill and answers to frequently asked questions.
Watch the video for an explanation of Senate Bill 608 -- the law that limits rent increases and no-cause evictions in Oregon.
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Housing Works has a new satellite office in Bend!
Eastlake Village Community Room
675 NE Bellevue Dr. #800, Bend, OR 97701
Tuesday's 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday's: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Housing Works will have a staff member available at this location by appointment only.
Please call (541) 923-1018.
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Welcome to Housing Works Rebecca!
Please join us in welcoming Rebecca Batzel as the new Housing Analyst at Housing Works!
Rebecca brings a strong background in Land Use Planning and Project Coordination and has years of experience working in the public and private development sector.
Rebecca is proud to be the first in her immediate family to graduate from college, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography & Forestry from Humboldt State University. Originally from California, Rebecca moved to Bend one year ago with her husband, Bobby, and dog, Kosmo. Rebecca enjoys rock climbing, mountain biking, fishing, playing guitar, and spending time with family and friends.
Rebecca was drawn to the values and mission of Housing Works and is looking forward to working alongside the award-winning Housing Works development team.
To contact Rebecca:
or call her at: (
541) 323-2975
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Rent a Home in Redmond for Only $1,050 per Month
Our “homeowner in training” program, the Tutor Home program, provides residents the opportunity to lease a home for up to two years while they take steps to prepare for the purchase of their own home.
How It Works:
- You receive one-on-one coaching about the home buying process.
- We review your credit report and suggest steps to improve your credit score, if needed.
- We help you develop a spending plan and make deliberate decisions about where you want your money to go.
- You have access to a matched savings account (VIDA).
- A portion of your rent is set aside and applied toward the purchase of your own home, upon successful program completion.
- We support you through the home loan and closing processes.
Are You Eligible?
- Preference given to current Housing Choice Voucher holder and FSS graduate applicants.
- Available to those earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI).
- Must reside or work in Deschutes, Crook or Jefferson County.
- Tenants must demonstrate by the end of the lease that, a) their income will be sufficient to support a mortgage, and b) they will be in a position to obtain mortgage financing.
- Participants must comply with a Tutor Home Lease Agreement, pass home inspections, and complete program requirements.
Applicants should be able to qualify for a mortgage loan within TWO years. If you are unsure of what that means, call for more information.
For more information, please contact Housing Works' Family Self-Sufficiency Program Manager, Andy Hall, at (541) 323-7413 or email him at
ahall@housing-works.org.
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EMPLOYMENT
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
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