When & Why was Blessings To OthersEstablished?

• Established in 2005

• Designed to help those who lost their homes in hurricane Katrina• Many people relocated to St. Louis

• Housing is one of the largest problems faced by Americans• According to St. Louis authority, there are over 5000 people on section 8

waiting list

• Many Americans are at risk of homelessness

• 2 times as many low-income families searching for housing as thereare units available.

Blessings To Others: Our Mission

“Our mission is to to assist those displaced families by assisting them inobtaining a home and the means to once again live without the need offurther public assistance.”

“We strive to help families reestablish a successful way of life andstabilize growing neighborhoods by home ownership and as responsibleself-sufficient American.”

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Blessings To Others: Official Mission Statement

“Our mission as a non-profit organization is to assist men, womenand children in transition, by providing supportive services, education,and temporary and/or immediate housing so that they are able torealize their full potential and become independent homeowners.”

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Blessings To Others: Our Vision Statement

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”The vision of Blessings to Others is to provide a network of 10,000 free andclear homes throughout 10 cities in the United States within the next 10 years.

That provides individuals and families who need a break in life, a chance to get afresh start and reestablish themselves in a local community, through donated orforeclosed homes that have been renovated thereby stabilizing and strengtheningour struggling neighborhoods.”

What is the 8 Week Life Skills Program?

• 8 Classes – each on an important topic• Must all be attended in-person• You will receive handouts for each class• You will receive homework for each class

• Aims to assist you in transition by providing:• Supportive services• Education

• This will help you to realize you full potential and become anindependent homeowner

8 Week Life Skills Program: OverviewWeek Topic Key Learning Objectives

#1 Introduction to BTO 8 Week Life Skills Program• History, purpose, and mission of BTO• Goal of 8 Week Life Skills Program• St. Louis Agency Resources• Personal and family goal setting• Basic family budgeting and record management

#2 Affordable Rental Program• How to sign up• Qualifications• The process• Applicant selection

#3 How to Purchase a Home• First-time Home Buyer Program• Selecting a home• How much can you afford?• What is in the payment/involved in closing?

#4 Money Management• Debt-free living concept• Debt management/elimination• Credit scoring and repair• IRA’s and Roth’s saving program• Insurance – Life, property, and business

8 Week Life Skills Program: OverviewWeek Topic Key Learning Objectives

#5 How to Start a Business• Creating a business• Writing a business plan• Finding the funding• Business structures• Filing your business with the state/taxes/professionals

#6 Transportation• Public transportation in St. Louis• How to clean warrants and traffic tickets• How to purchase and maintain used cars

#7 Wellness – Health – Medical Coverage• Health coverage - what is covered, enrollment and cost• Hospital care – rights• Dental, eyes, hearing care• Personal hygiene, basic nutrition• Mean planning

#8 Job Search, Resume, Interview• Find your vocation in life• ID new ways to search for jobs today• Write a resume and cover letter• Interviewing skills• Managing earned income

How to Use Your Daily Life Skills Guide

• As a part of this Life Skills Program, you have received aLife Skills Guide

• This guide is a physical paper packet that you can takewith you!

• This guide is meant to help you:• Search for and locate local service agencies that can help you

with any problems or needs• Get quick and easy access to contact information of these

service agencies

How to Use Your Daily Life Skills Guide

• This Daily Life Skills Guide includes the following:• Information about our organization: Blessings to Others, Inc.• Service agency contact information organized by type of need:

• Transportation• Utilities• Home• Health/Safety• Shelters• Other Basic Resources:

• Food Stamps• Clothing Programs and Household Items• Legal Services• Treatment and Counseling

Daily Life Skills Guide Example: Transportation

Daily Life Skills Guide Example: Utilities

Daily Life Skills Guide Example: HOME SAFETY

DAILY LIFE SKILLS GUDIEEXPLORATION TIME

Blessings To Others Can Help YOU!

Are YOU…

...living your calling?

...helping others?

...achieving balance in your life?

...spending more time with your family?

...making more money?

...in the career or business of YOUR choice?

...living a healthy lifestyle?

Blessings To Others Can Help YOU!

Are YOU…

...feeling trapped in your current lifestyle?

...in an unrewarding/unfulfilling career?

...feeling like you are stumbling through life?

...wanting to get a jump start on life and find purpose?

...wondering if you were destined for more?

~ THIS CAN ALL CHANGE! ~

~ YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE LIFE LIKE THIS! ~

~ YOU WERE CREATED FOR SO MUCH MORE! ~

The Life Cycle Balance

LifeCycle

Balance

Spiritual

Mental

Family

FinancialCareer

Social

Physical

Personal Goal Setting

How to set a goal:1. Consider what you want to achieve and commit to it.2. Set SMART goals that motivate you:

S – Specific or SignificantM – Measureable or MeaningfulA – Attainable – or Action OrientedR – Relevant or RewardingT – Time bound or Trackable

3. WRITE THEM DOWN – this makes them feel tangible4. Plan steps that you need to take to realize your goals, and

cross them off as you move through them

Personal Goal Setting

Why set goals?

Goal setting is an important method of:

• Deciding what you want to achieve in your life.

• Separating what's important from what's irrelevant, or a distraction.

• Motivating yourself.

• Building your self-confidence, based on successful achievement of goals.

Family Goal Setting

TIPS FOR SETTING FAMILY GOALS:

1. Every family member should participate in setting and

achieving the goals.

2. Don’t have too many goals at once.

3. Make sure you set SMART goals.

4. Write the family goals down.

5. Schedule time review family progress.

Basic Family BudgetingA good budget helps you reach your spending and savings goals.

Work out a proposed household budget by inputting your sources ofincome and projected expenses into a budget worksheet like this one:

Basic Family BudgetingWork out a proposed household budget by inputting your sources ofincome and projected expenses into a budget worksheet like this one:

An online version of this budgetworksheet can be found at thelink below:

http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/spending/T007-S001-budgeting-worksheet-a-household-budget-for-today-a/

This website also offers adownloadable version as aMicrosoft Excel File!

Basic Records Management: 3 Important Things

1.Order to Chaos: reduce lost time from poorlyorganized or missing records

2.Create & Maintain Systematic Process

3.Learn Identification and Handling of DifferentRecord Types

Basic Records Management

Basic Records Management

A RECORDS INVENTORY: The 3-batch model

1. Keep (active, action needed)

2. Toss (irrelevant, outdated, unneeded)

3. File (inactive but should be maintained)

Basic Records ManagementA List of VITAL RECORDS: to be kept safe at all times

• Birth Certificate

• Adoption Records

• Death Certificate

• Divorce Records

• Marriage License

• Social Security Card

• Household Inventory

• Will (living will, trust)

• Power of Attorney Documents

• Passport

• Citizenship Records

• Mortgage Documents

• IRA Related Documents

• Deeds & Titles (ownership)

• Life Insurance Policies w/ policy numbers

• Custody Records

• Medical Records

• Voter Registration Cards

• Coupons

• Service warranties

Basic Records Management

Thank you for your participation!