PRESS RELEASE

Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    CONTACT: Christy Finsel

June 18, 2015                                                                            (405) 401-7873

OKLAHOMA NATIVE ASSETS COALITION RECEIVES GRANT FOR INVESTING IN NATIVE FAMILIES AND PROMOTING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT NATIVE ASSETS

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) recently received a $17,482 grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado.  This award will support Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition’s Investing in Native Families and Promoting Conversations about Native Assets project.

With this grant, the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) will partner with Osage Financial Resources, Inc. and the Mvskoke Loan Fund to fund 80 Children’s Savings Accounts in the next year.  Both of the project partners are Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that offer loans and other financial services in their home communities.  The project includes financial education and an art project. Prior to opening the accounts, youth participants and their families will receive Native-focused financial education materials from ONAC.   They will also be invited to create a piece of art that reflects their understandings of Native assets.  Partners will display the youth artwork at an art show at a location of their choice.  ONAC will then generate a calendar, with the youth art included, which highlights various perspectives of Native asset building throughout the year.

“This grant will assist ONAC, and our partners, as we fund Children’s Savings Accounts for Native children who are living in two rural communities in Oklahoma. This pilot is part of a broader effort, on behalf of ONAC, to open Children’s Savings Accounts with Native youth throughout the state.  We appreciate First Nations Development Institute’s investment in our coalition and we are excited about this opportunity to help Native youth from families experiencing poverty to build a nest egg of savings,” said Christy Finsel (Osage), Executive Director of the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc.

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc. (ONAC), founded in 2007 and now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a Native asset building coalition that works with Oklahoma tribes and partners interested in establishing asset-building initiatives and programs in Native communities, for the purpose of creating greater opportunities for economic self-sufficiency of tribal citizens. 

The mission of ONAC is to build and support a network of Oklahoma Native people who are dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency and prosperity in their communities through the establishment of comprehensive financial education initiatives, Individual Development Accounts, and other asset-building strategies.  For more information about the coalition, visit http://oknativeassets.org.            

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