Main Menu
Home
About CEI
Philosophy and Programs
Finance Your Business
Business Advice and Training
Affordable Housing
Policy Research and Development
Subsidiaries
Workshop Calendar
Invest in CEI
Contact Us
Advanced Search

Individual Development Accounts PDF Print E-mail
Do you want to double your savings to help pay for education, a first home, or to start a small business? If you do, an Individual Development Account (IDA) may be right for you.

These accounts are matched savings accounts where every dollar you deposit up to $4,000 will be matched with another dollar. This means that you can use the IDA to save as much as $8,000. All you have to do is qualify for the account and then start keeping your money in a saving account. While participants save toward their individual goals, they are required to attend workshops on personal financial management and asset-specific training such as, homeownership education or business counseling.

In order to be eligible to participate in the IDA program you must be a Refugee or Asylee. Also, Cuban or Haitian entrants, victims of trafficking and certain Amerasians may be eligible. You must have earned income and your combined household income must fall below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

To learn more about eligibility requirements for this program or to start an IDA, please contact, , or call 207-882-7552.
 

CEI IN THE NEWS!

The results are in! Learn what the evaluation of the Farms for the Future disclosed ... 

Ron Phillips, President of CEI, speaks on public television’s “Conversations with Maine.” 

ImageMaine Legislature Passes Model Anti-Predatory Lending Bill.

Review LD 1869 here.

Predatory Mortgages in Maine Recent Trends and the Persistence of Abusive Lending Practices. A joint report issued by Coastal Enterprises, Inc. and the Center for Responsible Lending, 2006.

CEI receives SCED award for CED excellence. 

Announcing the publication, Telling Their Stories: Women Business Owners in Western Maine 

Read about NMTC's $120 million allocation to CEI.

CEI worked with a broad coalition to get the Office of Consumer Credit Regulations to study the impacts of payday lending.   

The Maine Working Waterfront Coalition works to help save commercial fishing access properties.

Tina Bailey - A Home of Her Own

Buying a house is always exciting. But for Tina Bailey and her two daughters having their own home meant a new sense of accomplishment and control. Leasing an apartment means following someone else's rules. Having lived in apartments all her life, Tina was eager for a change and ready to work for it.

Three years ago she learned about a CEI Individual Development Account (IDA), a matched savings program. For every dollar Tina saved for her down payment, CEI deposited a dollar into a special account. Tina started saving. She completed courses on budgeting, credit, and homeownership as part of the IDA program and, earlier this year, reached her goal of $4,000. Meanwhile, the story of Tina's future house was unfolding.

In 2002, the City of Lewiston was looking for creative ways to use an empty lot in a downtown neighborhood within the federally designated Enterprise Community. At the same time, the Regional Technical Center within the high school wanted to get its carpentry class involved in a larger scale community project, and CEI's Housing Department wanted to develop more affordable housing in the neighborhood. The three parties came together. The City donated the lot for purchase by a first time homebuyer. CEI developed and financed the construction, and the vocational program provided the labor. The partnership soon grew to include Fannie Mae, Pineland Lumber and St. Laurent and Sons. This fall the three bedroom cape was finished, and Tina got a mortgage through the Maine State Housing Authority.

What's the best part of owning a home? For Tina and her daughters, it's being able to paint the walls any color they choose - crimson, turquoise and purple.
36 Water Street, PO Box 268, Wiscasset, ME 04578; Telephone: 207/882-7552; FAX: 207/882-7308; E-mail: cei@ceimaine.org