America Saves! (not to be confused with Jesus) (sorry, is that sacrilegious?)

On Monday I got to go with the commissioner to a press conference at one of the neighborhood credit unions to promote America Saves week, a national movement to encourage household savings, especially for those with low income. DHS was invited, along with the Dept. of Consumer Affairs (DCA), because we both have asset building initiatives, and we are trying to link those initiatives to the more general initiatives that are going on around the country. Apparently it didn't rate high enough in either our agency or the DCA to make it on either website, and I think there were only a few (aka, two) actual press there, but I was still excited. I never thought I would be interested in the world of asset development and financial services, but as I learn more and continue to work with this program I am becoming convinced that basic financial literacy is essential for people to move out of poverty. And it's such a basic service, too - education about how to best use your money, and providing access to banking services to put that knowledge to work, are empowering in a way that other types of social services are not. I'm a fan.