Programs and Services
  Health Care Navigator  
Head Start/Early Head Start
Health Services
Family Assistance
Secret Santa
Heating/Cooling Assistance
Housing Services
Senior Services
Public Transportation
Development
About Community Action
News
Reports
Community Resources  
Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions
Community Action Links
Employee Links
Employee Newsletter
Home Page
News page Archive
Workshop Summaries for Hard Times to Hope

This is a brief description of the different workshops that are going to be offered at the Hard Times to Hope event. Each course has a case study and worksheets in order to put the class into a realistic setting. The resources that are in each course are also helpful in getting assistance after the day is over.
Savings

This program mostly goes over the reasons to save and how people can benefit from starting early. It covers such topics as compound interest, the importance of saving and about credit scores. It will also show how to handle borrowing and saving at the same time.

Surviving Job Loss
The Surviving Job Loss workshop will discuss how to get through job loss and the different resources that are needed to get through. First the workshop is going to be informed on what is needed when going to job and family services and then how to receive payments from them. Once getting this money it is important to know how to budget and keep it under control. This includes where to cut costs, where to try to increase income and what to try to take control over. Something important to keep in mind from this experience is not letting debt get out of control and keeping in mind credit scores.
Also, after losing a job, it is very difficult to come by the necessary resources needed. The participant of this workshop will learn how to manage food, utilities and health care. In addition to managing these, they will also go over how to find different resources to help with these necessities and how to get another job.

Credit and Debit
The Credit and Debit workshop discusses the differences between credit and debit and how they can be used. However, it mostly focuses on managing credit. This covers such things as knowing when a credit offer is a scam and figuring out your credit score. The credit score can be used by many businesses for different reasons, and this workshop will show the importance it carries. Through this experience, the participants will be able to find from who and where to find their credit scores and their credit rights. If credit has become an issue already with the participants, the instructor will also go over what questions are important to ask a future credit counselor to make they are credible.

Budgeting
The goal of this workshop is very simple, learn how to make and use a budget. However, this concept can be very hard for people to follow, no matter what their income is. This will help in making realistic goals and a budget that will work. With the hard economic times that most everyone is going through right now, it is also important to learn how to budget for a crisis. This includes the different ways to cut expenses so that a budget fits.

Entrepreneurship
The Entrepreneurship workshop starts out by explaining what entrepreneurship actually is and gives resources to figure out whether the participants would be successful as one. They then go through what the different types of businesses they can own depending on the amount of liability and number of owners, and how to get their business registered with the state. These can either be from a home or another venue, and the advantages and disadvantages of both locations will be discussed. The financing needed to start-up and run a business will be an important topic covered. This workshop ends on how many small businesses fail, which will give great perspective on whether this jump is right or not.

Home Ownership
The Home Ownership workshop will break down the steps that are required in order to purchase a home. This will cover everything from long term to short term goals. This includes figuring out if buying a home is affordable and differentiating the types of mortgages to see which one works best. The selling price is not the only cost, and this workshop discusses some of the other costs, including down payment. This workshop will end with the four C’s of getting the right mortgage: collateral, capacity, character and Credit. After this experience, home buying will be much less stressful.

Kids and Money
Kids mostly learn from the example that parents set forth for them; this even includes spending and saving money. The Kids and Money workshop goes over how to talk to kids about money and how to set a good example for them. This can be as simple as starting to teach them the different types of money to the value of money. However, not every kid will always listen or learn the same as others, so it is also important to learn when to teach and how to include them in the actual money processes.

Another large factor with kids and money is saving up for school. When is right to start saving for college and what are the different options that can be taken? This workshop offers many resources and aids that will be helpful in planning for a child’s future. It will also discuss the tax advantages that can be taken while sending kids off to college. With the knowledge that they will learn, they will be a success once they have to take care of their own money.

Stress to Success
When the economy started to take a downturn, many people went from a comfortable lifestyle to one filled with stress. By identifying the things that are controllable and what are not, it is easier to start planning for the future. This can be as simple as what goals are needed in order to deal with this transition. By figuring out what these changes are, it is easy to see where the shifting of money needs to go. Also looking at spending habits will help in getting a realistic idea of what money style fits. This can be seen by finding out what is working now, prioritizing, creating temporary methods and seeking support and resources. By using all of the knowledge from this course, taking action will be a lot easier.


Washington-Morgan Community Action Washington and Morgan Counties, Ohio


218 Putnam Street, Marietta, OH 45750 (740) 373-3745
50 W. Third Street, PO Box 398, Malta, OH 43758
(740) 962-3827