Helping refugees succeed with cash, know-how
When Albert Saidi first arrived from the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, he could barely support his wife and nine children.
Buying a home for them didn't seem like something that would happen anytime soon.
''I escaped with nothing, just some money in my pocket," said Saidi, who fled the bloodied province of Kivu and received asylum status from the United States.
Now the owner of a three-family home in Chelsea, Saidi says the International Institute of Boston's Savings for Success program helped him become financially savvy and put enough money in the bank to make the purchase. For every dollar deposited in a Citizens Bank individual development account, the program adds another $2, paid by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. A family can save up to $4,000, and an individual can save up to $2,000.
Saidi's savings went toward a down payment on his building in Chelsea. He, his wife, and their younger children live in one apartment, some of their older children live in another, and a tenant rents the third. Seven of the nine children live in the building.
The program's financial literacy training was just as crucial as the money, said Saidi, an assistant manager for Laz Parking near Northeastern University in Boston.
''Coming from Africa, it's not easy to understand the American financial system," he said. ''They helped me understand everything. They taught me how to save . . . how to keep my credit clean."
Refugees and asylum-seekers from countries such as Afghanistan, Cameroon, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have begun settling in cities north of Boston, where housing is more affordable, said Julie Sun, director of the Saving for Success program. Nearly 400 people over the past five years have opened an individual development account, she said.
Most participants put their money toward buying a vehicle for the commute to work, or education and job training, she said. Other options include buying a computer, repairing a home, or starting a business.
Buying a car is the most popular option because many immigrants need to work at a second job overnight, when public transit stops running, Sun said.
A big challenge facing the International Institute of Boston is convincing foreigners that the program is legitimate, she said.
''One stumbling block we face early on is people saying, 'This is too good to be true; if you're giving me $4,000 it must be a lying scam,' " Sun said. ''But after developing trust in the initial 40 people during the first year, we saw people graduate and buy assets and tell their neighbors and friends, and then the program took off."
One graduate who started off as a skeptic was Galina Deyneko, who gained refugee status as a Russian Jew in 1999. Deyneko, who immigrated with her husband and son, didn't speak fluent English when she arrived in Boston. She began working as a receptionist at a Brookline dental clinic before getting a job as a lab technician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
''I couldn't believe that somebody would just give me money; it was really unbelievable," said Deyneko, who now works at
Although her family had very little at first, they wanted their own home, so they managed to put aside the maximum $200 a month. The combined savings of $6,000 went toward a condo they bought in Allston.
''For us to have a home, that was the most important thing for my family," Deyneko said. ''We didn't think about any other options."
Deyneko said she found the financial education invaluable.
''It was like an English lesson, because I had never used credit cards, and I did not understand a mortgage or how to manage finances," she said. ''The course for a first-time homebuyer taught me what an appraisal is, how a mortgage works, what a home inspection is. I didn't understand it at all then because I had never had a home."
Due to a funding shortage, the program has a waiting list. For the first time, funding for individual development account, or IDA, programs is in the governor's budget. A $500,000 pilot program would fund Massachusetts IDA Solutions, a statewide collaborative of nonprofit groups that hopes to become a fiscal clearinghouse for programs such as Savings for Success.
''We're always looking at ways to help people transition to a better way of life," said Phil Hailer, state Department of Housing and Community Development spokesman. ''If this helps people gain assets through savings, then state assistance is a great thing."
State Senator Steven A. Tolman, a Democrat who represents parts of Boston and Cambridge, has sponsored legislation that would fund IDAs. He said that for ''very little investment," the state can provide a financial education and an incentive to save.
''This is a safety net for people who've never had any savings," Tolman said. ''This teaches people who've never had the means how to manage long-term investments."
The pilot program is a ''good start," said MIDAS coordinator Margaret Miley, who works for the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation. An investment of $3 million could help fund 2,500 accounts, she said.
''This would invite people to lay down roots and stabilize communities," Miley said. ''We're hoping the Legislature takes a harder look now that the governor is on board."
The International Institute of Boston's goal is to do more than just administer grants to refugees, said Kimberly Zimmerman Rand, vice president of operations.
''We want working poor families to develop assets, not just income," she said. ''They get a relatively small amount of money, but they get the knowledge and skills to invest it. That makes families more stable and more productive members of their communities, so everyone benefits."
For more information on Savings for Success and other International Institute of Boston programs, go to http://www.iiboston.org/or call 617-695-9990. 
