The City of Las Cruces Economic Development Department has begun a partnership with the United Way of Southwest New Mexico to create a pilot program regarding financial literacy program for housing services clients and referrals from housing services clients.
The basic financial literacy class is designed in cohorts of 20 participants, 10 in Spanish and 10 in English. The class covers topics regarding predatory lending, budgeting, savings, and other basic financial education.
This program is designed to incentivize savings of participants by including an Individual Development Account (IDA), where United Way will match one to three required savings of $150 with an additional $450. The match program requires participants to fully complete their classes and save the $150 during their classes to receive the full amount.
For information, contact the United Way of Southwest New Mexico at 575/524-7561, or send an email to impact@uwswnm.org. Information is also available by calling the Economic Development Department at 575/541-2166.