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Saver to Homeowner Story Fund

Submit a success story that inspires savers to achieve their goals

Do you have an IDA saver who has a compelling story to share about how your program helped that person or family reach their home ownership goals? CFED, with support from Bank of the West, wants to share success stories and photos of IDA participants to advance homeownership. CFED and Bank of the West will provide your program with $2,000 in matching funds and $1,000 in administrative support for financial education (for a total of $3,000) for each story that’s accepted.

IDA programs interested in applying must submit a homeowner’s story, photo and signed waiver for each eligible saver, and must comply with the following terms:

1. Timeline: To qualify, entry, story and photo submissions must come from savers who have purchased a home after November 1, 2012. This opportunity expires on February 28, 2013, and all submissions must be received by this date. CFED and Bank of the West may, at their discretion, offer additional opportunities to submit entries at a later date. Recipients of awards will be notified by e-mail or phone no later than March 18, 2013 (and likely earlier, depending on the timing of your submissions).
2. Geographic requirements: Eligible savers must reside within the Bank of the West footprint. A complete list of eligible counties, cities and MSAs can be found below.
3. Story and photo guidelines: All stories and photos submitted must adhere to CFED’s quality standards. Please see the story and photo example and guideline sheet below. CFED will make final determination as to whether a story and photo meet the quality standards. We reserve the right to ask for additional information and/or to edit stories received, but final stories may also be used by the IDA program for its own purposes.
4. Signed waiver: All stories and photos submitted must be accompanied by a signed waiver from the IDA participant, which can be found below.
5. Support only from a single financial institution, Bank of the West: Eligible participants must not have received savings matches from a financial institution other than Bank of the West.
6. Family and household savers: Please note that a family or couple that saved jointly toward a home purchase counts as only one story.

Reference materials:

1. List of eligible Bank of the West counties
2. Story and photo waivers (English, Spanish)
3. Story and photo example and guideline sheet
4. Agreement and program questionnaire

How to Submit Your Saver Stories

IDA practitioners may submit multiple entries, though we cannot guarantee that all entries will be accepted. To submit an entry, please e-mail the documents listed below to Jimmy Crowell (jcrowell@cfed.org). Entries that do not include all of these materials will not be eligible for consideration.

DEADLINE: February 28, 2013

Please submit the following documentation:

1. Signed terms and conditions agreement
2. Completed program questionnaire
3. Story, photo and waiver that adhere to the program guidelines
4. Saver information, including total amount saved, total match received, estimated value of home and location of home purchased
5. Most recent organizational audit

CFED reserves the right to conduct additional due diligence regarding any IDA program that applies for these funds; this may include but is not limited to a phone interview and follow-up with past and present organizational funders.