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AllState Donates to Help Domestic Violence Victims

AllState Donates to Help Domestic Violence Victims
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Apr. 25, 2017 | FRANKFORT, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 25, 2017 | 11:43 AM | FRANKFORT, KY
The Allstate Foundation has awarded the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence $115,000 in grants for its nationally recognized Economic Empowerment Project.

The Allstate Foundation and the KCADV have partnered for 12 years to break the cycle of domestic violence through economic empowerment--to the tune of $1,140,000 in grants for member programs since 2005, including Merryman House in Paducah.

The funding will support individual case management, financial education classes, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), and micro loans throughout Kentucky’s 15 domestic violence programs. Funding will also support KCADV’s innovative partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System’s (KCTCS) 16 community colleges whose transitional students (welfare recipients) are now eligible for financial empowerment services since 2014. 

Last year, 1,895 individuals were served with financial empowerment services, using The Allstate Foundation's Moving Ahead Through Financial Management curriculum. Of these, 844 people created a financial plan or budget, 69 opened bank accounts, 342 are working to improve credit scores, and 540 met financial goals. 

Between KCADV’s reach to domestic violence programs and community colleges, more than 2,300 survivors of domestic violence in Kentucky will receive economic empowerment services this year. Most survivors are single mothers earning less than $15,000 per year. Seventy-two percent of KCTCS transitional students report being survivors of domestic violence.

Participants benefit from financial education classes and counseling and can open IDAs (special matched savings accounts). Participants who maximize one program finish with $5000 to spend--$1000 of their own savings and $4000 in matching funds--on an asset of their choosing: higher education expenses, a home purchase, or funds to start or expand a small business.  The savings of participants who save for a car are matched one-to-one for a total of up to $4,000.

KCADV’s economic empowerment program has helped participants purchase assets that will help them become self-sufficient: 186 have purchased homes; 56 have started small businesses; 322 have pursued a post-secondary degree; and 145 have purchased their own cars.

The Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a coalition of the Commonwealth’s 15 publicly funded domestic violence programs. 
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