Christian Community Services, Inc.
Programs
Budget
$3,192.00
Description
First Time Homebuyer Education (HBE) is a 6-hours workshop focused on the financial and legal aspects of owning a home and provides insight about what first-timers can expect throughout the home-buying process. THDA requires the use of NeighborWorks' "Realizing the American Dream" curriculum for this 6-hours workshop. This class is a requirement for first time homebuyers seeking THDA-backed mortgages but is very practical for those seeking other types of mortgage loans . Pre purchase HBE workshops are offered on a quarterly basis and are funded through service/workshop fees. This service not only offers a small source of operating revenue to CCSI, but also completes our continuum by providing a trusted resource for homeownership-specific education to MTI graduates using their IDAs to purchase homes. The program is open to all regardless of income; however CCSI's primary interest is in serving lower-income buyers. This is a certified class.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Adults
Long-term Success
The CCSI HBE classes are open to anyone in the community regardless of income, though based on the past, typically about 65% of CCSI/HBE participants fall within the low to moderate income range. Between May 1, 2020 - April 30, 2021, CCSI served 34 HBE customers who purchased homes through THDA resulting in $7,361,247.00 invested in the economy with these home purchases.
Program Areas Served
None
$3,192.00
Description
First Time Homebuyer Education (HBE) is a 6-hours workshop focused on the financial and legal aspects of owning a home and provides insight about what first-timers can expect throughout the home-buying process. THDA requires the use of NeighborWorks' "Realizing the American Dream" curriculum for this 6-hours workshop. This class is a requirement for first time homebuyers seeking THDA-backed mortgages but is very practical for those seeking other types of mortgage loans . Pre purchase HBE workshops are offered on a quarterly basis and are funded through service/workshop fees. This service not only offers a small source of operating revenue to CCSI, but also completes our continuum by providing a trusted resource for homeownership-specific education to MTI graduates using their IDAs to purchase homes. The program is open to all regardless of income; however CCSI's primary interest is in serving lower-income buyers. This is a certified class.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Adults
Long-term Success
The CCSI HBE classes are open to anyone in the community regardless of income, though based on the past, typically about 65% of CCSI/HBE participants fall within the low to moderate income range. Between May 1, 2020 - April 30, 2021, CCSI served 34 HBE customers who purchased homes through THDA resulting in $7,361,247.00 invested in the economy with these home purchases.
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$2,394.00
Description
BFT is a 7 hours, financial literacy workshop that was created in 2000 at the request of MDHA, as an eviction prevention resource for residents of their Hope VI communities. The workshop highlights the fundamentals of money management: budgeting and "smart" spending; saving; managing bank accounts; credit/debt; and financial preparation for pursuing higher education or specialized training, homeownership, small business start-up, etc. Today, BFT serves people regardless of their incomes, however, the majority of participants are lower-income families. Since the program began, about 85% of participants had household incomes less than 80% of the area's median income. Each session has the capacity to serve 25 families. To graduate, participants must attend the session, create a realistic household budget, complete all assignments, and pass the post test. BFT is typically offered three times per year.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Adults
Long-term Success
During the time of its existence, over 850 clients have matriculated and completed BFT. BFT is open to anyone regardless of income level, however based on past participants typically over 85% would fall within the low to moderate income range.
Program Areas Served
None
$2,394.00
Description
BFT is a 7 hours, financial literacy workshop that was created in 2000 at the request of MDHA, as an eviction prevention resource for residents of their Hope VI communities. The workshop highlights the fundamentals of money management: budgeting and "smart" spending; saving; managing bank accounts; credit/debt; and financial preparation for pursuing higher education or specialized training, homeownership, small business start-up, etc. Today, BFT serves people regardless of their incomes, however, the majority of participants are lower-income families. Since the program began, about 85% of participants had household incomes less than 80% of the area's median income. Each session has the capacity to serve 25 families. To graduate, participants must attend the session, create a realistic household budget, complete all assignments, and pass the post test. BFT is typically offered three times per year.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Adults
Long-term Success
During the time of its existence, over 850 clients have matriculated and completed BFT. BFT is open to anyone regardless of income level, however based on past participants typically over 85% would fall within the low to moderate income range.
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$7,200.00
Description
MTI includes a youth development component which we call P.A.S.S. (Personal Academic, Social, and Spiritual). The goal is to facilitate positive development, and create an experience to support journeys of growth and change for the children similar to their parents. Infants and older youths engage in activities that promote age appropriate social and emotional as well as academic and economic development and readiness. Students in grades 1-12 are involved in curricula that mirrors their parents, to reinforce the economic, social , emotional, and spiritual aspects of a healthy and well-balanced life. The approach includes individualized academic tutoring, goal-setting, vision boards, social and emotional skills, career awareness, life skills enhancement, and financial education. Positive role modeling and relationships are foundational to the work in the youth development program. Life profile simulation activities presented by TN Extension help make learning even more relevant.
Beneficiaries
Children
Infants and Toddlers
K-12 (5-19 years)
Long-term Success
Some results of the P.A.S.S program are that the middle and high school students are demonstrating the ability to create a mock budget, create business plans and present a pitch, create brief financial messages shared via financial videos, earn funds and begin practicing saving, understand credit better, and enhance academic skills with supplement support and practice.
Program Areas Served
None
$7,200.00
Description
MTI includes a youth development component which we call P.A.S.S. (Personal Academic, Social, and Spiritual). The goal is to facilitate positive development, and create an experience to support journeys of growth and change for the children similar to their parents. Infants and older youths engage in activities that promote age appropriate social and emotional as well as academic and economic development and readiness. Students in grades 1-12 are involved in curricula that mirrors their parents, to reinforce the economic, social , emotional, and spiritual aspects of a healthy and well-balanced life. The approach includes individualized academic tutoring, goal-setting, vision boards, social and emotional skills, career awareness, life skills enhancement, and financial education. Positive role modeling and relationships are foundational to the work in the youth development program. Life profile simulation activities presented by TN Extension help make learning even more relevant.
Beneficiaries
Children
Infants and Toddlers
K-12 (5-19 years)
Long-term Success
Some results of the P.A.S.S program are that the middle and high school students are demonstrating the ability to create a mock budget, create business plans and present a pitch, create brief financial messages shared via financial videos, earn funds and begin practicing saving, understand credit better, and enhance academic skills with supplement support and practice.
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$118,864.00
Description
MTI was CCSI's original flagship program, which is now offered to BFT graduates with annual household incomes between 100-200% of the federal poverty guidelines. MTI focuses on practical financial tools as well as the mindsets and behaviors that impact money management decisions. CCSI uses the approaches of family mentoring, individualized financial counseling, Financial Peace University, Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) and personal and financial empowerment topics that address mindsets and behaviors. This is a holistic program, and the participants' children are engaged in age appropriate social/emotional, academic, career and financial curricula. The MTI program typically accepts about 15-20 families and they are paired with volunteer mentors who attend classes with the participants and are in contact at least once a week outside of class. Volunteer food teams provide the weekly meals, and tutors meet with the children for homework assistance and curriculum implementation.
Program Successes
2022, marked 25 Years of CCSI working and serving in the Metro Nashville community. CCSI families have enhanced their wellbeing and that of their communities while contributing over $203million dollars to the economy via home purchases and property taxes paid by the 161 participants who became homeowners as of 2024. Additionally over 20 achieved their asset goal of higher education and 15 achieved business start up. An estimated over $3 million dollars in subsidies has been saved by families no longer needing/receiving public assistance. Numbers can't quantify the qualitative impact of families gaining confidence, personal and financial empowerment , greater wellbeing, and a sustained family legacy of self-sufficiency.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
Long-term Success
Over 338 families have matriculated through the MTI program. Within 2-3 years of completing Phase One of MTI, about 40% of our qualifying families typically achieve their goals of financial stability, homeownership, higher education and/or business startup. The percentage increases when you extend to 5 years. For instance, the MTI class of 2016-2017, we accepted 20 families and 19 graduated (95%), 15 of 19 (79%) maxed out IDA (saved full amount), and 14 of 19 (74%) have achieved their asset as of December 31, 2021.
Short-term Success
Even during the COVID pandemic, The 2020-2021 MTI cohort began with 18 families in September of 2020. Fifteen of the families (83%) completed the 9 months Phase One of MTI in May 2021. Those families achieved the following collective outcomes during the 9 months Phase I of MTI (September 2020 - May 2021):
• Saved $28,544.46
• Saved additional $6,725 in their Individual Development Accounts (IDA)
• Paid off $51,117.41 in Debt
• Increased credit score by an average of 48 points with the highest individual increase of 87 points
• Increased wellbeing score by an average of 5 points with the highest individual increase of 22 points.
During the same time period 11 families in the Savers Phase II of MTI achieved their asset goal of homeownership (5), higher education (3) and business start up (3).
Program Areas Served
None
$118,864.00
Description
MTI was CCSI's original flagship program, which is now offered to BFT graduates with annual household incomes between 100-200% of the federal poverty guidelines. MTI focuses on practical financial tools as well as the mindsets and behaviors that impact money management decisions. CCSI uses the approaches of family mentoring, individualized financial counseling, Financial Peace University, Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) and personal and financial empowerment topics that address mindsets and behaviors. This is a holistic program, and the participants' children are engaged in age appropriate social/emotional, academic, career and financial curricula. The MTI program typically accepts about 15-20 families and they are paired with volunteer mentors who attend classes with the participants and are in contact at least once a week outside of class. Volunteer food teams provide the weekly meals, and tutors meet with the children for homework assistance and curriculum implementation.
Program Successes
2022, marked 25 Years of CCSI working and serving in the Metro Nashville community. CCSI families have enhanced their wellbeing and that of their communities while contributing over $203million dollars to the economy via home purchases and property taxes paid by the 161 participants who became homeowners as of 2024. Additionally over 20 achieved their asset goal of higher education and 15 achieved business start up. An estimated over $3 million dollars in subsidies has been saved by families no longer needing/receiving public assistance. Numbers can't quantify the qualitative impact of families gaining confidence, personal and financial empowerment , greater wellbeing, and a sustained family legacy of self-sufficiency.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
Long-term Success
Over 338 families have matriculated through the MTI program. Within 2-3 years of completing Phase One of MTI, about 40% of our qualifying families typically achieve their goals of financial stability, homeownership, higher education and/or business startup. The percentage increases when you extend to 5 years. For instance, the MTI class of 2016-2017, we accepted 20 families and 19 graduated (95%), 15 of 19 (79%) maxed out IDA (saved full amount), and 14 of 19 (74%) have achieved their asset as of December 31, 2021.
Short-term Success
Even during the COVID pandemic, The 2020-2021 MTI cohort began with 18 families in September of 2020. Fifteen of the families (83%) completed the 9 months Phase One of MTI in May 2021. Those families achieved the following collective outcomes during the 9 months Phase I of MTI (September 2020 - May 2021):
• Saved $28,544.46
• Saved additional $6,725 in their Individual Development Accounts (IDA)
• Paid off $51,117.41 in Debt
• Increased credit score by an average of 48 points with the highest individual increase of 87 points
• Increased wellbeing score by an average of 5 points with the highest individual increase of 22 points.
During the same time period 11 families in the Savers Phase II of MTI achieved their asset goal of homeownership (5), higher education (3) and business start up (3).
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$291,656.00
Description
CCSI currently offers three programs: Basic Financial Training (BFT), Mentoring Towards Independence (MTI), and First-Time Homebuyer Education. The programs differ in focus and intensity, but each has economic empowerment as a central theme. The financial literacy components of our services are based on curricula that have defined industry standards. BFT utilizes principles from the FDIC's "Money Smart", Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace", and NeighborWorks' "Realizing the American Dream" curricula. "Financial Peace" has been the financial foundation for MTI. "Realizing the American Dream" is the required curriculum for First-Time Homebuyer Education. All are welcome. Faith inspires CCSI's work and spiritual development is part of its mission, however, there is no religious expectation or requirement. CCSI emphasizes the importance of communities and families living in harmony, making positive choices, and taking personal responsibility for one's beliefs, attitudes and actions.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
K-12 (5-19 years)
Program Areas Served
None
$291,656.00
Description
CCSI currently offers three programs: Basic Financial Training (BFT), Mentoring Towards Independence (MTI), and First-Time Homebuyer Education. The programs differ in focus and intensity, but each has economic empowerment as a central theme. The financial literacy components of our services are based on curricula that have defined industry standards. BFT utilizes principles from the FDIC's "Money Smart", Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace", and NeighborWorks' "Realizing the American Dream" curricula. "Financial Peace" has been the financial foundation for MTI. "Realizing the American Dream" is the required curriculum for First-Time Homebuyer Education. All are welcome. Faith inspires CCSI's work and spiritual development is part of its mission, however, there is no religious expectation or requirement. CCSI emphasizes the importance of communities and families living in harmony, making positive choices, and taking personal responsibility for one's beliefs, attitudes and actions.
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
K-12 (5-19 years)
Program Areas Served
None
CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments
| CCSI is a small but powerful faith based organization that is literally changing the direction of many families' lives and saving taxpayers thousands of dollars with each family moved from government dependency to self-sufficiency. CCSI provides a holistic approach to helping families achieve financial stability by addressing the behaviors that impact their money management decisions, providing the practical tools of budgeting, saving, debt management/reduction, encouraging mentors and by providing asset development options through Individual Development Accounts. Our unique model has helped over 180 families to become free of housing subsidies. 161 of these families became first time homeowners and the remainder are paying fair market rent. The remainder were counted as living in the community instead of in subsidized housing. Other families have become debt free, obtained advanced college degrees, married, improved credit scores and taken a step closer to their self-sufficiency goal of home ownership or fair market rent. Financially stable families break generational cycles of government dependency and provide the stability needed for children to thrive and have the hope needed to overcome obstacles and achieve dreams.CCSI is governed by a Board of Directors, and relies heavily on community support via donations. To achieve long-term sustainability, CCSI is working to diversify its donor base, obtain new funding sources and donors and create self-sustaining opportunities. By investing in the foundation framework, CCSI is creating the tools needed to more efficiently approach and attract key funders, and provide a unique model of high quality programming in a transparent manner. CCSI is in the midst of growth and moving from a reputation of Nashville's best kept secret to a preferred referral agency for helping families achieve self-sufficiency. The challenges associated with this growth is recruiting and training more volunteers, staying abreast of current trends and opportunities for cooperative impact engagement, and generating a more diverse pool of revenue for long term sustainability. CCSI was founded 27 years ago and the impact outcomes have been substantial. CCSI is a small organization with proven success and sustainability. Our goal is to continue to build on this legacy of success while making meaningful changes to remain relevant to the needs of the families we serve in the current climate of Nashville, the nation, and the world. Rietta Turner, Executive Director, 4/2016 to Present |
