Project Profile:

Michigan Family Independence Agency, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

The Michigan IDA Partnership (MIDAP) was a coordinated network of Individual Development Account (IDA) programs with a goal of serving households at or below 200% of poverty. IDAs are matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts. Working poor households can use these accounts to save for the purchase of a long-term asset that will help them secure a more stable economic and financially independent future for their families. These households participate in financial management training for the purpose of becoming homeowners, advancing their educational or vocational goals, or starting or growing small businesses.

Key leaders in this network included five Regional Coordinating Organizations  serving anywhere between eight and 13 IDA program sites. These five organizations served as centralized fiduciaries, coordinators, and technical assistance providers for IDA programs in their networks. In its Fact Sheet dated April 2006, MIDAP reported that there were nearly 1,400 open/active individual account holders saving for their IDA asset goal. Nearly 80% of the participants planned to purchase a home, 10% intended to use their account for a business, and 10% for education.

Major funders such as W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, along with several other supporters, helped the MIDAP project support the development of sustainable networks of asset building programs that can quickly respond and adapt to the changing funding environment of IDAs and other asset building tools that help low income families overcome poverty.

• Assisted over 1,400 Michigan individuals in establishing savings accounts to be used for their personal IDA goal
• Stimulated the Michigan economy by helping individuals achieve financial goals