Category: Newsletters

Our Change-making Initiatives

Rebuilding Communities in New Mexico

Communities across New Mexico are facing compounded crises: socioeconomic inequity and COVID-19. And Black, Indigenous, People of Color communities are bearing the brunt—due to systemic racial inequities.

As we look ahead to rebuilding communities post-COVID, we have an opportunity to lay an equitable foundation—one shaped by intention and authenticity. In partnership with each of you, Prosperity Works is innovating proactive solutions to help limited-income New Mexicans build power through securing a home, vehicle, business, or degree.

Like Robert, a single father of four, who leveraged our IDA initiative to buy a home: "I can't express enough...how thankful I am to have started the IDA program. I advocate for financial literacy training prior to and after becoming a homeowner so that each individual stays focused and well prepared for the future."

Together, let's close the health and wealth gaps, and rebuild New Mexico equitably!

Donate today!

Wishing Our Esteemed Friend & Colleague, Raye Baldwin, Happy Retirement!

As we bring 2020 to a close, we at Prosperity Works would like to express our sincere thanks to our long-time colleague, Raye Baldwin, as she retires at the end of December.

For nine years, Raye has contributed her voice, keen editing eye, exquisite penmanship, humor, and organizational prowess to keeping Prosperity Works humming. Raye's start at Prosperity Works began with a few focused writing projects, and grew from there—with her supporting our IDA and CSA work and fundraising efforts, while sporting many other hats as well!

"I've had a very checkered—and pretty long—career. But of all the positions I've held over the years, none has given me as much pleasure or pride as being part of the Prosperity Works staff. If I've helped move our goal just a little toward realization, that makes me a happy person. Passing the baton now!"

Raye, you have certainly left your mark on Prosperity Works, and we're so grateful for your time and talent, and for having been a part of the Prosperity Works family for nearly a decade. We all wish you a happy, healthy, safe, and exciting retirement!

Thank you for supporting Prosperity Works on Giving Tuesday!

We'd like to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who supported Prosperity Works on Giving Tuesday!

Your support of our community-centered work helped us raise over $6,500 toward our year-end fundraising campaign! We could not do this important work without each of you, and are exceedingly grateful to have you as a partner in progress. Thank you!

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)

We created our IDA initiative to help empower hardworking families through financial capability training to save, invest, and accumulate assets—to enhance their household’s long-term socioeconomic health and wellbeing.

Assets like a home, postsecondary education, or small business can promote long-term financial solvency and bridge generations.

Prosperity Kids Child Savings Accounts (CSAs)

Prosperity Kids CSAs are matched education savings accounts for limited-income households. Each CSA is opened with a $100 deposit and is matched 1:1—up to $200 per year until a child graduates high school. Parents also complete 10 weeks of financial capability and parent-child development education.

Depending on the age at which a child enrolls, they could graduate with $5,000 or more in savings!

Support Our Initiatives

Prosperity Works' Partnership with TrueConnect

TrueConnect is an employer-provided loan product that assists employees in accessing a fair loan.

Prosperity Works recognized the extent to which high-interest predatory lenders undermined individual borrowers’ long-term financial health, eroded community economic development initiatives, and advocated against legislation to protect consumers. Through our partnership with TrueConnect, employees in New Mexico have an equitable lending alternative to predatory storefront lenders.

Employers across the state, and across all sectors, have adopted TrueConnect. With no cost or risk to the employer and no credit check for the employee, these loans of up to $5,000 have helped employees address short-term emergencies and reduce financial stress—all of which supports a healthier, more productive workplace.

If your business is interested in TrueConnect, click the link below.

Get more information on TrueConnect

Utility Bill Assistance

Through a partnership with PNM and HELP New Mexico Inc., eligible New Mexico customers facing past-due energy bills can apply for customer energy assistance through the PNM COVID Customer Relief Fund.

Learn more and apply through the link below. The deadline to apply is December 31st.

Apply Here

New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority's (MFA) COVID-19 Housing Cost Assistance Program helps pay the housing costs of income-eligible New Mexico households and residents of tribal lands who are experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

Details of all qualifying criteria and complete income limits can be found on MFA’s website: housingnm.org. Applicants may call (505) 308-4206 or toll free at (866) 488-0498 for more information.

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November Newsletter

11/23/2020

Become a 10 for $10 Ambassador

The Importance of Antiracist Practice to Prosperity Works

As an asset-building leader, Prosperity Works recognizes the inextricable linkage between socioeconomic and racial inequities—all of which are being brought into sharp relief by the global pandemic.

Prosperity Works is committed to being an active antiracist organization that works through our Financial Opportunity & Inclusion Continuum (FOIC) to bake authentic, equity-centered education into our internal processes and outward-facing initiatives as we advocate for the liberation of limited-income and Black, Indigenous, People of Color communities (BIPOC).

We will endeavor to be explicit about how our FOIC initiatives intersect with and inform our antiracist praxis, and how we center race in our community-focused, collaborative solutions.

We have scoped specific equity-centered milestones within the next five years, and will “do the work” authentically—recognizing that effecting equitable outcomes rarely occurs along a linear trajectory when done intentionally; as such, we fully expect organic growth and development within and beyond our milestones.

“Together, we will build a more diverse and resilient local economy for a post-COVID-19 future by removing barriers for all New Mexicans in order to create generational change.” —Arellana Cordero, President & CEO

Support Prosperity Works on #GivingTuesday!

Save the date for #GivingTuesday, December 1st!

We're looking for 10 individuals to be a GivingTuesday Ambassador and join our #10for10Challenge! Each Ambassador will encourage 10 of their friends each to make recurring monthly $10 donations to Prosperity Works, starting on GivingTuesday!

If you're unable to be a 10 for $10 Ambassador this year, please consider making a donation to Prosperity Works to support our programs and advocacy efforts using the link below.

Donate Today

Utility Bill Assistance

A few weeks ago, PNM shareholders gave $2 million to help customers pay down their past-due energy bills.

Through a partnership with PNM and HELP New Mexico Inc., eligible New Mexico customers facing past-due energy bills can now apply for customer energy assistance through the PNM COVID Customer Relief Fund.

If you or someone you know is past due on their energy bills, you can learn more and apply through the link below. The deadline to apply is December 31st.

Apply Here

Election Statement

Like many organizations committed to equity-centered work, Prosperity Works is excited for the opportunities ahead of us—to advocate even more fiercely for policy and process that reduce racial and economic inequities.

We also recognize we have a lot of work to do to lead with intention and to authentically center the voices and lived experiences of our BIPOC neighbors who are often omitted from conversations that matter.

As Prosperity Works pivots to reframe our community-focused, asset-building initiatives through an intersectional lens that centers antiracist praxis, we remain steadfast in our dedication to hold one another in community, and to fight for a New Mexico where prosperity works for everyone.

Let’s get to work.

Get Involved Today

Climate Action Plan Survey Results

This summer we asked you to take a Climate Action Survey to see what you felt was most important for the city to implement to combat climate change and its effects. The survey received 3,100 responses from residents in 200 neighborhoods.

Read the Full Results Here

Our Programs

Individual Development Accounts

We created our IDA initiative to help empower hardworking families to save, invest, and accumulate assets to enhance their household’s long-term socioeconomic health and wellbeing. Assets like a home, college education, or small business can promote long-term financial solvency and bridge generations.

Prosperity Kids Program

Prosperity Kids Children's Saving Accounts (CSA's) are matched college savings accounts for limited-income households. Parents must complete 10 weeks of financial literacy and parent-child development education. Each CSA is opened with a $100 deposit and are matched 1:1—up to $200 per year until they graduate high-school. Depending on the age at which a child enrolls in Prosperity Kids, they have the opportunity to graduate high school with $5,000 or more in savings for postsecondary education.

DONATE TODAY

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS

Prosperity Works' Partnership with TrueConnect

TrueConnect is an employer-provided loan product that assists employees in accessing a fair loan.

Prosperity Works recognized the extent to which high-interest predatory lenders undermined individual borrowers’ long-term financial health, eroded community economic development initiatives, and advocated against legislation to protect consumers. And through our partnership with TrueConnect, employees in New Mexico now have a more equitable lending alternative to predatory storefront lenders.

Employers across the state, and across all sectors, have adopted TrueConnect. With no cost or risk to the employer and no credit check for the employee, these loans of up to $5,000 have helped employees address short-term emergencies and reduce financial stress—all of which supports a healthier, more productive workplace.

If your business is interested in TrueConnect contact us today.

Get more information on TrueConnect

Copyright © *|2020|* *|Prosperity Works|*, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
*909 Copper Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 *

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October Newsletter

10/14/2020

Read the rest of Estefania's story here

A message from our CEO, Arellana Cordero.

Given today's complex linkage between racial and economic inequities, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the very communities Prosperity Works is seeking to equip, empower, and support. Without the resources to build their socioeconomic assets, it will be impossible for these populations to fully share in economic prosperity.

We frame our community-embedded work through an intersectional lens that centers on racial equity - coupling community support with policy advocacy to dismantle racist policy and barriers to economic opportunity that have historically limited the economic prosperity of low-income households. Especially BIPOC households.

The fact is that poverty is a mismatch between the capacity of our society and the opportunity of the individual. Our nation is seen by so many of us to be in turmoil. While there is no silver bullet to solve the nation’s problems if every American were afforded a fair and just opportunity to succeed it would go a long way to making our country great. This year, we lost two brave, values-driven champions: Congressman John Lewis and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Their work leaves us with a roadmap for values-driven leadership, which is at the center of everything we do at Prosperity Works. A meritocracy assumes everyone is on a level playing field. If a person works hard to grow and performs exceptionally, they are rewarded. But what if this were not completely true?

What happens when "justice" becomes a filter for decision making in all that we do? It does not say that you can't or should not be profitable, but it does say that you have an enormous opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the families we serve, our communities, and our state. This is our opportunity to come together to challenge every assumption we have about who we are and who we want to be in our personal, community, and business lives so that we may once again think about a time where we can thrive together.

It's time - let’s seize this opportunity and move from silence to commitment!

Prosperity Kids Program
Celebrates First Graduate

Eighteen-year-old Estefania Valencia is fulfilling her dream to attend college—an aspirational goal built upon her strong funding foundation through Prosperity Works’ Prosperity Kids Child Savings Account (CSA) Program.

“The Prosperity Kids program pushed the idea of college no matter what,” said Valencia, “I just had the goal to go to college after enrolling in the program.”

Not only is Valencia making history on a personal front—she will be a first-generation college student—but she also is making Prosperity Works history by being the first to complete the CSA program and withdraw her funds to use for college.

The deadline to register to vote in New Mexico is October 6th, 2020! If you are planning to vote this election make sure to register before or on that date to ensure your ability to vote on November 3rd.

Once you've registered, make your plan to vote this election. Whether you request your absentee ballot to vote by mail, vote early in person, or vote on election day make your plan now!

Important Dates:

October 27st - Mail your completed absentee ballot back to your county clerk by today OR drop it off at your county clerks office any time after that until Election Day
October 31st - Early voting ENDS
November 3rd - ELECTION DAY

REQUEST YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOT

Support Prosperity Works.
Donate Today!

Looking for a way to support Prosperity Works' mission and advocacy? Donate today to further our mission in achieving economic prosperity for all. Donate directly today or host a Facebook Fundraiser and make an even bigger impact with your donation!

We challenge you to get 10 of your friends to donate $10!

Contact our CEO, Arellana Cordero at [email protected] to get started!

DONATE TODAY

Our Programs

Individual Development Accounts

Our Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) were created to encourage savings, investment, and asset accumulation among hard-working families. Assets such as a home, college education, or opening a small business all enable low-income families to move into the economic mainstream and succeed.

Prosperity Kids Program

Prosperity Kids Children's Saving Accounts (CSA's) are matched college savings accounts for limited-income households. Parents must complete 10 weeks of financial literacy and parent-child development education. Each CSA is opened with a $100 deposit and are matched 1:1—up to $200 per year until they graduate high-school. Our program, depending on the age at which a child enrolls in Prosperity Kids, they have the opportunity to graduate high school with $5,000 or more in savings for postsecondary education.

DONATE TODAY

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS

Prosperity Works Partnership with TrueConnect

TrueConnect is an employer-based loan product that assists employees in accessing a fair loan.

Understanding the harm done to individual borrowers, community economic development initiatives, and struggling to get legislation to take action to protect consumers, Prosperity Works partnered with TrueConnect to bring this alternative to high-cost storefront loans to New Mexico.

Employers across the state have adopted TrueConnect. With no cost or risk to the employer and no credit check for the employee, these loans of up to $5,000 have served to address emergencies, reduce financial stress, and support workplace productivity.

Visit our website if your business is interested in TrueConnect.

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August 2020 Newsletter

8/17/2020

Welcoming New Team Members!

Prosperity Works is excited to welcome Lindsay Winton as our new Operations Director!

Lindsay will work to support the Prosperity Works team with her extensive project management background. Her expertise in organizational structures and facilitating workflows will help the Prosperity Works thrive!

"I am so excited to be joining the Prosperity Works team, and be a part of the incredible social justice work they’re doing across New Mexico. As a native to the state, it brings me pride to be part of the solution in bringing economic hope to all in our beautiful and diverse state."

Prosperity Works is happy to have Matthew Mirarchi join the team as our new Development Director!

Matt most recently worked in development and New Mexico Environmental Law and has extensive experience with both large and small nonprofits. Matt is excited to hit the ground running with his expertise in development and community building to break down barriers to prosperity!

"I feel incredibly fortunate to join and contribute to Prosperity Works' dynamic, change-making team at such a pivotal and charged time—as so many are encountering even more systemic hurdles to achieving economic solvency."

Prosperity Works Founder, Ona Porter, wins Nusenda Foundation Award

We are happy to share that our founder and former CEO, Ona Porter, has been honored with the Financial Education Innovator Award from Nusenda Foundation!

“Ona’s long-time commitment to economic equity and financial well-being has helped New Mexico families achieve long-term financial security; her additional support of unbanked New Mexicans during this COVID-19 pandemic ensured that people could quickly access money they needed during this critical time without exorbitant fees,” said Nusenda Foundation Executive Director Robin Brulé.

Read the full release

Prosperity Works Partnership with the City of Albuquerque

Prosperity Works is happy to announce a partnership with the City of Albuquerque to help underserved communities affected by climate change! The money from this grant will go towards helping low-income residents lower their energy bills.

As our founder, Ona Porter described our mission - "Welcome to our world where social justice is operationalized every day. Removing barriers and creating opportunities is the "good trouble" that is Prosperity Works"

In March, we told you about Phase One of our ongoing Energy Work. Even though Phase Two was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are on schedule to finish in November!

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed financial inequalities that have been evident to us for years. Now with many of these families experiencing job and income losses, the cost reduction that comes with energy efficiency retrofits could not be more important.

All of this work could not be completed without Prosperity Works’ partnerships with the Partnership for Community Action, PNM, and Central New Mexico Housing Corporation. Funding has been provided by the New Mexico Zone Grant Funders and the Turner Foundation, Inc. and Energy Foundations.

Individual Development Accounts

Our Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) can help you prepare for the future. Whether it's saving for secondary education, opening a small business, or buying a home. Prosperity Works wants to see you succeed.

Learn More

Prosperity Kids Program

Our PW Kids program combines matched Children's Saving Accounts (CSA's) with personal, social and financial support for the entire family.

Learn More

Prosperity Works Partnership with TrueConnect

TrueConnect, an employer-based loan product that we brought New Mexico as an alternative to high-cost storefront loans. Understanding the harm done to individual borrowers, to community economic development initiatives, and to our inability to get our Legislator to take action to protect consumers, employers across the state have adopted TrueConnect to assist employees in accessing a fair loan. With no cost or risk to the employer, and no credit check for the employee, these loans of up to $5,000 have served to address emergencies, reduce financial stress, and support workplace productivity.

It is easy to do but I am also happy to connect you with other cities, large and small, who have done so.

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July 2020 Newsletter

7/6/2020

Prosperity Works Receives Grant from
Longtime Partner Wells Fargo

As the demand to address the urgent needs of people who have lost some or all of their income because of COVID 19 closures, it is clearer now than ever before, that the work we do to help families build and preserve assets must be elevated.

We have proven over and over again that the opposite of poverty is not wealth but social justice and opportunity. LMI families served by our New Mexico Assets Consortium are building businesses, going to college, buying homes, and saving for their children's college education at a rate that is higher than any place in the nation. While a good job provides for everyday needs, it is personal, social, and financial assets that provide a personal safety net and hope for the future.

Prosperity Works is thankful for the longtime partnership and continued support from Wells Fargo, and will utilize this funding to further their work in economic and financial equality for all New Mexicans.

Looking for a way to support Prosperity Works' mission and advocacy? Host a Facebook Fundraiser and make an even bigger impact with your donation!

We challenge you to get 10 of your friends to donate $10!

Contact our CEO, Arellana Cordero at [email protected] to get started!

Energy Bill Assistance from PNM

It's been an incredibly challenging and heart-wrenching time for so many. PNM wants to help your communities' families struggling to pay their electric bill. From now until July 7, PNM is helping eligible low-income customers with their energy bills by applying up to $150 towards their energy bill.

Here's how to receive this FREE bill credit:

Call PNM at 505-967-8045 on Tuesdays through July 7

Tuesday, June 30, from 7:30 A.M. - 6 P.M.
Tuesday, July 7, from 7:30 A.M. - 6 P.M.

Provide Digital Copies Of: (PNM will work with callers if digital documents are difficult to send)

Proof of income and Identification of all living in the home
LIHEAP approval letter dated (2019/2020) from NM Dept. of Human Services
If there's no income, provide proof of receiving food stamps
PNM bill
Customers may check the balance on their bill by texting #BAL to 78766 from the cellphone number registered to their PNM.com account.

For those that may not need assistance with their electric bill and want to HELP a Neighbor in Need, visit: https://www.pnm.com/gnf to donate directly to struggling families.

Prosperity Works Partnership with TrueConnect

It is easy to do but I am also happy to connect you with other cities, large and small, who have done so.

Respond to the 2020 Census Now

Our Programs

Individual Development Accounts

Our Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) can help you prepare for the future, whether it's saving for secondary education, opening a small business, or buying a home Prosperity Works, wants to see you succeed.

Learn More

Prosperity Kids Program

Our PW Kids program combines matched Children's Saving Accounts (CSA's) with personal, social and financial support for the entire family.

Learn More

Visit our Website

Have You Completed the 2020 Census?

With the outbreak of COVID-19, it's hard to think of anything else, but it is now more important than ever to make sure you complete the 2020 Census.

The 2020 Census will determine how billions in federal funding will be spent over the next 10 years. Money that New Mexican communities need and rely on. The 2020 Census results also determine how districts are drawn and how many seats in Congress New Mexico gets.

Funding for things like:
- Education programs like Head Start, Pell Grants, school lunches, rural education, and preschool education.
- Healthcare programs like Medicaid, Medicare Part B, and the prevention and treatment of substance abuse.
- Funding for infrastructure programs like highway planning and construction, Section 8 housing, community development, and rural water and waste disposal systems.

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June 2020 Newsletter

6/9/2020

A message from our CEO

As I conclude week one of my journey with this incredible group of people here at Prosperity Works, we are in one of the toughest times in our country's history. We are continuing to battle a deadly pandemic and the resulting economic havoc while, again, coming face-to-face with the long-term effects of racial injustice.

I am honored to carry on the work and mission of Ona Porter and the Prosperity Works TEAM. I read the following excerpt from the Aspen Institute and found it really resonated with me and found it in line with the Prosperity Works mission and strategic plan:

People’s financial well-being rests on three pillars:

Stable and sufficient income relative to cost of living.
Effective money management and personal resources, including liquid savings.
Social safety nets, both private and public.

These are the building blocks of financial security, and without all three of them, America won’t have a financially secure and healthy population. The racial disparities exposed by the COVID-19 crisis show the inequities in health that so tragically mirror the disparities in financial wellbeing. Now, more than ever, we commit to continuing our efforts to address this disparity and improve financial equity. The work we do here at Prosperity Works will serve this purpose and I will be hyper-focused on root causes along with systemic and institutional changes. With the three pillars above in mind, we will GROW EXISTING PROGRAMS, BRING CHANGE THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY WORK, STRENGTHEN OUR FUND DEVELOPMENT, ALL WHILE BEING INNOVATIVE AND OPEN-MINDED. We will embrace technology to build capacity and grow our organization.

The passion and hard work you contribute to this mission will be a powerful force for lasting change and will tear down systemic economic barriers for New Mexican families. We exist to make this a reality and feel it is unleashed when all people -- regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, income, religion, culture, sexual orientation or place of origin, have the opportunity to shape their own future. With the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, which is disproportionately impacting communities of color, we must and will continue our fervent pursuit of a more just society. This effort is reflective of Prosperity Works’ broader view that we must continue to be an important player in the communities we are a part of, especially those hardest hit. Together we will build a more diverse and resilient local economy for a post-COVID-19 future by removing barriers for all New Mexicans in order to create generational change. Just as important, it includes committing the company I lead down a path of systemic, permanent change in as many ways as we can find.

With gratitude and hope,
Arellana Cordero

Giving Tuesday Now Recap

At the beginning of May, Prosperity Works participated in #GivingTuesdayNow, an international day of giving created as a response to the unprecedented need caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to all of your generous donations we were able to donate $3,400 to immigrant workers and their families, individuals who are not receiving any relief aid from the government. Prosperity Works is happy to give back to this overlooked community during this time of need.

Prosperity Works Partnership with TrueConnect

During these difficult financial times, it is more important than ever to make sure your employees have access to a fair and reputable lending source. TrueConnect exists to provide safe, affordable financial support and hope to employees in need of a helping hand that is an alternative to predatory lending products.

Read more about TrueConnect and our partnership in our latest blog post!

Respond to the 2020 Census Now

Navajo Nation Relief Fund

Thanks to the generosity of our donors Prosperity Works was able to raise nearly $14,000 in just over a week for our Navajo Nation and Zuni Pueblo Relief Fund. Our partner, the Northwest New Mexico Home Visiting program, assembled and delivered 700 50-pound food boxes to these communities being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. With your help, 100 percent of the funds raised were used for supplies and gas in this completely volunteer-run operation.

Your kindness and generosity are deeply appreciated!

Have You Completed the 2020 Census?

Our Programs

Individual Development Accounts

Prosperity Kids Program

Our PW Kids program combines matched Children's Saving Accounts (CSA's) with personal, social and financial support for the entire family.

Learn More

Visit our Website