The ACORN Institute uses research and training to combat the poverty, discrimination and community deterioration that keeps low-income people from taking advantage of their rights and opportunities.

Description:
The ACORN Institute works with ACORN to educate and involve the community in the rights and opportunities that improve the day to day life of ACORN's membership-base. In low-income communities poverty, discrimination, and community deterioration result from at least two sources of information deficiency. The first is lack of information concerning rights and opportunities - the right to be free of discrimination; to have particular employment opportunities, as well as housing and social service options. The second is lack of training and information regarding civil rights and opportunities.

History:
ACORN Institute sponsors work with local chapters of the community-based organization ACORN to make sure that AI's research and training are used in a manner that reaches the maximum number of families. AI and ACORN have been involved in financial literacy projects across the States, and are currently working together to promote the bridge of the "benefits gap" in America. AI has recently done reports on the enormous gap that is left from what the federal government has allotted individual families with federal and state entitlements and benefits, but found that there are billions lost due to the gap of knowledge and access to these entitlements.

Through local ACORN chapters AI is able to reach families about the opportunities available to them in a hands-on way by giving families the tools needed to access government funds for which they are entitled. Through the local ACORN Center in Boise, families are simultaneously educated about manners in which they are taken advantage of by financial institutions (Refund Anticipation Loans, cash advances, predatory lending, etc). http://tabac.acorn.org

Contact person: Nakita Santiago, Project Manager, (phone), (email)

Address:

1310 S Vista Ave Ste 1 Boise, ID 83705 (See a map)

Web Site: http://acorninstitute.org