CSBG Pilot Programs

Human Services, Inc. (HSI)

HSI, located in Columbus managed a financial literacy education course with ARRA funds. One hundred and twenty-three people completed the course.

One of the success stories was of a couple with two teenage children, one with cognitive disabilities and one with behavioral problems that had trouble with the law. The husband had been working for a catering company that served meals to soldiers at Camp Atterbury. With the reduction of troops coming to Atterbury for training prior to overseas assignment, the husband was laid off . He found work at a restaurant at a greatly reduced wage rate. The wife could not work because she was ordered by the court to monitor the activities of her teenage son who was recently released from a detention center.

The couple admitted that they had always had problems managing their money. At the time the couple came to the agency for assistance, they were signifi cantly behind in their rent and utility payments. With ARRA funds, the agency was able to pay their past due rent and electric bill giving them a fresh start they needed. Both the husband and wife participated in the six personal finance education classes and they both wanted to be financially independent. Aft er completing the sessions, the wife said that, “she felt like she had finally grown up”.