11/17/2005: I hope this gets posted to "I need help" as I'm not quite sure about how to post on this site yet and it's very late. For those little families or single individuals with debt or a need to save for a (1)home, (2)new business ,(3) or a need to get vocational education, go to your city directory and find the H.E.A.P. program for your area(this is where you can get a once a year energy assistance-call your energy company as they also will direct you to where you can apply for this help). Find out if there is a program attached to or known by the HEAP or Community Action groups within your city. Ours is called IE.IDA (Individual Development Accounts) and are funded by banks that help lower income families and/or individuals save for the above 3 goals by matching 2-1 (sometimes higher)their savings in an account that is opened and unused for a period of time (over 1 year+). You can take out the money if you need to, but your funds are not matched if you do. It is a great opportunity to be able to save for those 3 items above-and possibly be able to utilize other monies to be able to pay off bills. If you can't find this program in your area, call some banks up and ask if they have an interactive relationship with your city in this type of a program. Let me know if you find out about any other program that (1)helps persons purchase a vehicle without having to go into severe debt! Thanks and hope this info helps someone! usadmbd
