Legacy Wealth Initiative: Building Wealth, Together.

Income Inequality

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Over 9 million American households lack a bank account. Some 60 million adults use high-cost lending products, around half of whom are African Americans and Latinos, despite qualifying for standard loan products. Households with poor credit history and lack of emergency savings will spend nearly 10% of their income on high-cost credit products. Debts disproportionately impact families and communities of color, hindering economic mobility. Unemployment and increased cost of living further exacerbate financial stability. Kaimore serves Los Angeles’s most vulnerable populations: unhoused, Transitional Aged Youth, and clients accessing food assistance to provide comprehensive financial capability services. For this project, Kaimore seeks to address income inequality. Participants will learn about banks, mortgages, loans, retirement accounts from skilled and experienced trainers. Re-employment, job retention, and financial literacy will be crucial to rebuilding LA in the coming years.

The purpose of the Kaimore Legacy Wealth Initiative is to provide participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to create pathways to build wealth and grow professionally. This program will include the following: Week 1) Personal Development: SMART Goals, Personality Test Week 2, 3) 2 financial literacy workshops: Savings, Budgeting, Credit, Debt, Taxes, Investments & Retirement. We will create action plans for each individual to improve in these areas and keep them accountable throughout the rest of the cohort. Week 4, 5) 2 workforce development workshops: Resume, LinkedIn, Networking, Interviews, and Problem Solving Week 6,7) 2 entrepreneurial workshops: Different Aspects of running a Business: Business Plan, Using Models Week 8) Pitch Challenge: the opportunity to develop a business or solve a problem, and pitch it to real world investors or business owners for feedback Week 10) Community Event for the cohort to host and reinvest in the community. Each cohort will be 3 months long with weekly sessions from 10 AM - 4 PM. Pitch Challenge and Community Event dates TBD. The goal of the program is to give participants practical training, practice within the cohort soft skills and teamwork, give them a chance to think proactively to problem solve for the Pitch Challenge, and to give them responsibility and a chance to give back through the Community Event. By the end of the program, participants will be empowered with the skills necessary to engage professionally.

In the short run, we want to host a successful cohort, be able to hire 1 staff for this, and provide the 2 cohorts (20-25 people per cohort) with the opportunity to host the community event. We anticipate the community event to garner at least 200-250 individuals who will be educated with the event resources. In the long run, we hope to train other organizations to be able to provide this training as we continue to iterate and to create real sustainable change and a community of alumni to add to the network. With this grant, we want to reach 800+ individuals and improve their economic standing and show that there is a way to close the income inequality gap and that is through active learning in financial literacy and workforce development.

Kaimore has served over 2,200 low income individuals since the pandemic hit through partnerships with City and County of Los Angeles, IRS,YUM Brands, United Way, Covenant House, Family Source Centers, HACLA, and more. Between 2020-2022, 89.4% of our clients reported at least a 25% increase in savings, 89.3% of individuals improving their credit score by at least 35 points, 85.4% number of individuals with at least 25% reduction in debt, and 79% of individuals set and completed a 6-month long financial goal. Kaimore placed 102 out of 138 individuals enrolled in our workforce development programs into jobs despite the pandemic. The metrics we use to measure impact include: documenting number of unduplicated at-risk families enrolled, analysis of client changes in financial wellbeing as measured by the pre- and post- service survey, employment rate, and 3-6 months job retention rate.