Klickitat County Hosts Successful Financial Wellness Fairs to Support Rural Families
From Washington Gorge Action Programs:
By Tamara Kaufman
Klickitat County, Wash. July 24, 2024 — Preventing financial stress for rural families was a primary goal of the recent Financial Wellness Fair series put on by Community Enrichment for Klickitat County (CEKC) and Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) with the help of area partners. Over 200 people participated.
Another major goal was making the fairs accessible to underserved communities and populations. The team hosted three events across Klickitat County. In Klickitat and Wishram, the event focused on low-income families and included an emphasis on outreach to the Native American population. In Trout Lake, the event was held in Spanish, with additional outreach to migrant farm workers and their families.
“WAGAP Community Health Workers have exceeded all expectations for developing and implementing a financial wellness program,” said Vern Harpole, vice president of CEKC. Twenty partners came together to offer financial literacy training, legal aid, and assistance with financial goal setting.
“The Hispanic Community has very little information about these types of resources being available, especially due to the language barrier,” said Mary Solorio, one of the Pathways Community Health Workers. “It is very important for me to inform the community of all the services available to them, so the Trout Lake event was significant.”
Recognizing that evening activities can strain families, free dinners and childcare were available. The groups also provided gift cards to assist with financial burdens and compensate for their time and effort.
Organizers invited participants to complete a survey at the end of the evening to identify areas where families were struggling financially. It also captured thoughts on the usefulness of the information provided.
Food topped the list of needs. General expenses were next, followed by housing and transportation. Comments included notes that the event was helpful and that it can be hard to know what to ask for if someone doesn’t know a service exists. Most appreciated bringing resources together at one event to bring attention to programs that can assist rural families.
A major contributor was the Mid-Columbia Housing Authority, whose staff demonstrated its free financial education course. Participants received education materials and were welcomed to sign up for the series of four courses offered monthly in both English and Spanish. Classes are offered in person at the MCHA office and are also available via Zoom. Topics include Budgeting and Savings; Building, Repairing, and Protecting Credit; Banking Basics; and Debt and Predatory Lending. For more information, or to sign up, call 541-296-5462.
Other partners supported outreach to local communities, and many set up informational tables at the events. They shared a wide range of information and access to various services that could assist families in taking the stress out of their individual situations.
Among the financial partners were Riverview Bank, First Interstate Bank, and Rivermark Community Credit Union, with the Initiative for Working Families Tax Credit. WorkSource Columbia Gorge, People for People, and Oregon Human Development Corporation (OHDC) represented employment. Klickitat Valley Health and Skyline Health provided insurance navigators, with One Community Health also participating. Other programs included Nch’i Wana Housing, Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, Klickitat County Senior Services, Northwest Access Fund, Fort Vancouver Regional Library, and Klickitat County Childcare Committee. Prevention programs included the Klickitat-Lyle Against Substance Abuse Coalition (KLASAC) and the Coalition for Preventing Abuse in Klickitat County (CPAKC).
Harpole explained that the series was part of the work that CEKC, an all-volunteer nonprofit, does in efforts to increase rural resiliency. In 2023, the organization was awarded a two-year grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce for asset building in rural and poverty-stricken areas, bringing $145,000 to Klickitat County to support the work.
The group focused on developing a financial wellness program and identified local communities in Klickitat County where it could have a tremendous impact. CEKC’s board brought in WAGAP’s Pathways team of Community Health Workers, whose professional staff added capacity and access to a deep list of contacts to organize the events. “CEKC provided advisors and logistical and financial support, and WAGAP provided all the planning and execution,” Harpole said.
With the first year of the grant under its belt, the team is now planning for year two and hopes to broaden its reach. “This pilot program will be expanded with more sites and services next year,” Harpole said. “We can't wait to continue our work with WAGAP.”
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Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Community Action Agency that helps individuals, families, and communities. WAGAP addresses basic human needs, including food, shelter, energy assistance, and more, in Skamania and Klickitat Counties. For more than 50 years, WAGAP has helped people help themselves and reach self-sufficiency. Learn more at wagap.org, or contact WAGAP at (509) 493-2662 or info@wagap.org.
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