MSU Federal Credit Union has partnered with the Telamon Farmworker Individual Development Account Program and the MSU College Assistance Migrant Program to assist migrant students with financial hardships as they complete a post-secondary education.
The Telamon Farmworker IDA Program is designed to help low-income individuals create and maintain a savings account to help them develop money management skills and help decrease debts related to a post-secondary education.
“By being involved with this program, we hope to make a big difference in the lives of participants,” said Patrick McPharlin, MSUFCU’s president and CEO. “This savings program embodies our mission, as it allows us to help participants achieve financial security, their goals and their dreams by providing them with the financial training needed to do so.”
MSUFCU works closely with Telamon and MSU CAMP in providing a total of 25 eligible students the opportunity to participate in the match savings program. Savings accounts will be established for eligible students, and when they meet the $500 savings goal, they can utilize $4,000 in federal and non-federal match funds. MSUFCU will assist students by opening and maintaining their savings accounts, conducting financial literacy training and providing $2,000 in non-federal match funds per student. The savings earned throughout the yearlong program will then be used for post-secondary education and related educational expenses.
“Personally, I can’t think of a better way of living Telamon’s mission statement than by the establishment of the Telamon Farmworker IDA Program,” said Don Kuchnicki, Telamon’s director of employment and training programs for the state of Michigan. “Telamon’s mission statement reads that we are committed advocates for people in need. Our mission is to promote the development of human potential by providing resources and opportunities in the communities we serve.”
Telamon Corp. is a nonprofit organization that brings human services to people and communities in 12 states to improve the lives of those in need. Telamon provides literacy and early childhood education, childcare, job training, emergency services, temporary housing opportunities, mortgage assistance and much more.
“We at MSU Migrant Student Services have always been concerned with the financial burden and challenges to our migrant-seasonal farmworker students and their families when furthering their formal education,” said Luis Garcia, MSU’s Migrant Student Services director. “The components of this program’s design not only help reduce some of that burden but provide financial management training that will last a lifetime, far beyond the MSU experience.”
MSU CAMP is an educational program that offers individuals with migrant or seasonal farm work backgrounds a unique opportunity to begin an undergraduate program at MSU. Initiated in 2000, the program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is designed to serve incoming migrant and seasonal farm worker students at MSU.