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Feb 5, 2009

AARP Foundation And CFED Innovations Focus On Aging In America

AARP Foundation And CFED Innovations Focus On Aging In America

Contact: Kristin Lawton, 202.207.0137

Collaboration Seeks Solutions to Challenges for Low-Income Household

Washington. D.C. — AARP Foundation and the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) today announced a new collaboration focusing on creative solutions to the financial challenges facing low-income Americans as they grow older. The collaboration will bring AARP Foundation’s aging expertise and perspective to CFED’s new national initiative called “innovation@cfed” that is part of ongoing efforts to expand economic opportunity for low-income households.

“Retirement income is only one of the many issues that face older Americans,” said Robin Talbert, AARP Foundation’s President. “Low-income households in particular must overcome significant barriers that erode financial security throughout their lifetimes, such as high-cost credit and mortgages, inadequate financial services, predatory lending and lack of workforce opportunities to build an equity nest egg to protect against crises like medical bills or job loss.”

The innovation@cfed initiative supports Innovators-in-Residence who are selected from a nationwide pool of applicants and receive technical assistance from CFED’s expert staff and resources over a residency period of up to two years. Innovators-in-Residence spearhead new and effective approaches to expanding economic security for low-income households. The AARP Foundation collaboration will bring an aging lens to the work of addressing the needs of low-income aging Americans. Innovators-in-Residence will evaluate the effectiveness of proposed solutions in diverse situations and begin to take them to scale. The result will be proven innovative approaches ready to expand financial security for thousands of low-income aging households.

The AARP Foundation will also be a lead supporter of CFED’s Innovation Summit, a gathering in Washington, DC of the country’s top creative thought-leaders and practitioners in October. AARP Foundation experts will bring an aging focus to the special economic challenges facing low-income Americans. The Summit will coincide with the celebration of CFED’s 30th year as a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income people. The Summit will showcase more than a dozen innovative ideas and approaches across a wide spectrum – from financing college to linking the “green economy” with jobs and economic development, to using manufactured homes to create secure and affordable housing. The AARP Foundation collaboration will throw a spotlight on multiple innovations offering scalable solutions for aging Americans generated through innovation@cfed’s “Innovative Ideas” program.

“We are thrilled that AARP Foundation has joined with CFED to address the unique needs of low-income households,” said Andrea Levere, CFED’s President. “AARP Foundation is an enormously important collaborator bringing a new perspective to our ongoing mission to find new and effective ways to expand economic opportunity and build financial security for Americans. Today’s economic crisis highlights something that we’ve known for 30 years, that all Americans, including members of our increasingly vulnerable middle class, need solid opportunities to build financial security through homeownership, education and business ownership. It’s these opportunities that create an economic bedrock not only for households, but for our nation as a whole.”

Vivian Vasallo, AARP Foundation’s Senior Director for Financial Innovations, says the Foundation has a special interest in addressing the needs of African-American women and Hispanic women. “These women, because of multiple socio-economic factors, and because they often bear the responsibility for their families and their children, face particular challenges in building financial security,” said Vasallo. “We hope that some of the Innovator-in-Residence applicants propose to work on approaches that will benefit such women.”

Competition is now open at CFED for the Innovator-in-Residence and Innovative Idea selections by online application forms. More information about the innovation@cfed initiative can be found at the website innovation.cfed.org. Applications must be submitted online by April 3, 2009.

For more information about CFED, visit www.cfed.org and for more information about the AARP Foundation, visit www.aarp.org/foundation.

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CFED expands economic opportunity by helping Americans start and grow businesses, go to college, own a home and save for their children’s and own economic futures. We identify promising ideas, test and refine them in communities to find out what works, craft policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, and develop partnerships to promote lasting change. We bring together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways to achieve greater economic impact.

Established in 1979 as the Corporation for Enterprise Development, CFED works nationally and internationally through its offices in Washington, DC; Durham, North Carolina; and San Francisco, California.

The AARP Foundation is AARP’s affiliated charity. Foundation programs provide security, protection and empowerment for older persons in need. Low-income older workers receive the job training and placement they need to rejoin the workforce. Free tax assistance and preparation is provided for low and moderate income individuals, with special attention to those 60 and older. The Foundation’s litigation staff protects the legal rights of older Americans in critical health, long-term care, consumer and employment situations. Additional programs provide information, education and services to ensure that people over 50 lead lives of independence, dignity and purpose. Foundation programs are funded by grants, tax-deductible contributions and AARP.