Pasos al Exito/Steps to Success

Over 100 rural Latinos have graduated from the first phase of the Pasos al Exito (Steps to Success) program. The first phase is a financial literacy training, titled Money Smart that is based on FDIC curriculum. It focuses on building financial knowledge in addition to developing financial confidence and the ability to successfully use American banking systems.

The last session of the Money Smart class featured a resource panel in which community members with financial/banking experience were invited to share their advice on financial recovery and answer any questions. Silverton/Mt. Angel was the last community to graduate and participants kept local representatives from Chase Bank, Maps Credit Union, and Consumer Credit Counseling busy with questions. Hermiston and Boardman had over 20 participants sign up to apply for IDAs that will help them support their business, home, and/or education through the Umatilla-Morrow Head Start, our local partner for the communities. Ontario had 30 participants actively engaged, full of ideas for their own small business. Nyssa/Vale and Molalla each celebrated success of their own, and will start 2012 with strong support for Latino entrepreneurship in their communities.

Participants leave Money Smart classes with a personal financial plan and a budget that will help prepare them for the second half of the program: Starting a Business @ Home. Participants will begin developing their Business Plan through this six-week micro-enterprise development course and partner with a local business mentor to reach specific goals in the development of their home-based business. If you are interested in supporting the growth of your community and rural Latino participants, please visit the “Mentor Program” page of the website.