The Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) announced that five grants of $10,000 each have been awarded to support housing and housing literacy, economic development/community investment, and financial or cyber literacy in Wisconsin.
The selected projects include:
Columbia Savings and Loan Association, Milwaukee
Columbia Savings and Loan Association plans to present homeownership workshops and related financial literacy sessions to individuals in their market. In addition, qualified low- and moderate-income borrowers may receive down payment assistance to substitute or supplement FHLBank Chicago’s Downpayment Plus Program and/or city of Milwaukee grant funding.
Community First Bank, Boscobel
Community First Bank plans to develop/distribute educational/promotional resources to benefit individuals across its footprint in southwest and south-central Wisconsin with a focus on current and prospective homeowners in rural areas. Such resources could include video content on topics such as credit repair strategies and steps to homeownership. The bank may also partner with others involved in the home-buying process to offer educational events to help consumers more fully understand the housing market, housing availability, and the steps required to purchase and maintain a home.
Peoples State Bank, Prairie du Chien
Peoples State Bank plans to provide a three-part community education series and one-to-one counseling sessions in partnership with Couleecap Inc., a community action and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) counseling agency.
Premier Community Bank, Marion
Premier Community Bank plans to host financial education events in English and Spanish — including presentations, videos, and supplemental materials — focusing on housing counseling/homeownership opportunities, fraud prevention, and cyber literacy. This outreach is geared toward elderly, financially challenged, and low- to moderate-income community members.
Waldo State Bank, Waldo
Waldo State Bank will support Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) — a nonprofit organization with HUD-accredited and NFCC-certified (National Foundation for Credit Counseling) counselors — in providing the Open the Door Homeownership (ODHO) program for new homebuyers. The grant funding will drive awareness of the ODHO homebuyer education classes through radio, print media, etc. to underserved and marginalized populations, provide a manual to participants (available in English, Hmong, and Spanish), and offer one-to-one counseling required for most downpayment assistance programs.
