Invest in the American Dream

In October 2008, through a community-initiative called "Invest in the American Dream," a group comprised of non-profits, schools, credit unions, banks, and businesses established a five-year plan to bank the unbanked, increase small business lending, and improve financial literacy in El Paso, TX.  In our view, this is the most innovative community initiative in the US to build financial literacy, beat predatory lending and bank the unbanked.

Across the U.S., so much of the earned income by hard-working individuals is either used to pay fees to cash their paychecks or is transferred into the hands of payday lenders.  In many neighborhoods of El Paso, annual interest rates on pay day loans exceed 1100% per annum.

While market changes have given more people access to a wider variety of services, increased complexity in the lending arena has created a risk for uninformed borrowers. All too often, these borrowers enter into high-risk, high-cost loan agreements that provide no net financial benefit and can actually trap them in a cycle of debt.

We are working to give the necessary education to individuals so that they can make good, responsible financial decisions, and we can keep more money in the hands of hard-working individuals.

The "Invest in the American Dream" initiative has targeted goals, which include ensuring that all high school students in El Paso complete a financial literacy program, doubling the volume of small-business lending in El Paso, increasing by 50,000 the number of new savings accounts opened in El Paso, with an emphasis on first-time account holders, reducing debt with specific family debt reduction pledges, and innovative, state of the art outreach to small business with a mobile "go center" staffed with key small business experts.

Essentially, the "Invest in the American Dream" initiative is aimed to ensure the full economic participation of the individuals in our community. El Paso, Texas is one of the fastest growing cities with an estimated 66,000 additional troops and dependents arriving at Ft. Bliss Army installation in the next four years. Expanding financial literacy skills is essential to ensuring that strong families are created and that the American Dream is not relinquished because of a lack of financial education.

Downloadable Documents