Fort Wayne Urban League Economic Development

Need for Economic Development

In Fort Wayne and Allen County, as elsewhere in this country, African Americans, Hispanics, other minorities and low-income persons in general are extremely underrepresented in the ownership of capital, both business and residential. While many of these persons aspire to become business owners, they often have not even been able to attain homeownership, for a variety of societal and personal reasons. As long as homeownership remains beyond the reach of so many persons in our community, their possibility of ever becoming business owners will remain remote. For minority persons who have achieved homeownership and wish to start or expand their own small businesses, there continues to be a need for information on money management, savings, investment, entrepreneurship skills and opportunities, as well as for access to and linkages with the mainstream public and private sector economic entities which can assist them in meeting these needs.

According to the City of Fort Wayne Community and Economic Development Department, the rate of home ownership in Fort Wayne is below the national average. The national average is 67% and Fort Wayne’s current rate is 60%. When compared to other areas of the City, the south and southeast side, near west and near north sides have much lower rates. There is sufficient decent, safe and affordable housing in Fort Wayne, so the goal of increasing home ownership among the targeted population is achievable.

The Home Ownership Made Easy (HOME) component of the Fort Wayne Urban League Economic Development Program promotes home ownership among central city residents to help them increase their net worth and counter the decline of neighborhoods, which generally results when absentee landlords own a high proportion of the property. HOME is a collaborative effort with Project Renew, with the majority of the funding for the Urban League’s participation coming from Wells Fargo Bank.

Program Benefits

Referrals are made to local programs, which provide financial assistance to low income persons who wish to purchase a home or rehabilitate a home they already own. HOME encourages and assists low and moderate income households to accumulate equity by helping them to become home owners, thereby improving their ability to acquire financing in the future for possible business development.

Clients in the HOME program normally spend 30-90 minutes in the intake process. Credit and Debt Management classes and other home ownership classes last approximately 2 hours per session. When clients come in to discuss their progress with a counselor, the meeting is scheduled for one hour. The Coordinator may need to schedule several sessions with each individual. She spends up to two hours per session with the client when they are preparing the pre-qualified loan application, which may take five sessions to complete.

By placing an emphasis on outreach and case management, this program has proven that low and moderate-income individuals can become homeowners. Fort Wayne Urban League is a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. The one-on-one counseling assistance provided by HOME staff is designed to help individuals work through credit problems, educate participants about the mortgage process, and offer assistance in identifying suitable and affordable properties. This enhances the participant’s and their family’s standard of living and long-term potential for achieving self-sufficiency and participating productively in the community.

Another component of our Economic Development Program, our Entrepreneur Internship Project, provides classroom instruction and places interns at small, for-profit and not-for-profit businesses. The Fort Wayne Urban League (FWUL) operates the Entrepreneur Internship Project in conjunction with the Indiana Institute of Technology (IIT). The program provides internships to students interested in entrepreneurship by covering one-half of each intern's stipend with funding from the Kauffman Center. Cash matching funds are contributed by the host companies. This is necessary because the small businesses and not-for-profit agencies where interns are placed often have very limited resources that they can use for this purpose. For most of them, availability of a stipend subsidy from the Kauffman Support Grant will be the determining factor in whether or not they are able to host an intern.

The Fort Wayne Urban League/Indiana Institute of Technology Entrepreneur Internship Program has proven to be an effective collaboration between the two institutions. This program has provided a meaningful experience in entrepreneurship for the interns since they have had hands-on involvement in the "nuts and bolts" of a functioning not-for-profit business/agency, they have made decisions that impacted that business/agency, and they have had opportunities to network with local entrepreneurs. The specific projects and activities have reflected the student's major and met the host business/agency’s needs. The students have served as internal technical experts/consultants to the host organizations. The interns have added value to the businesses/agencies by bringing new, innovative ideas, alternate perspectives, and familiarity with current technology. They have also produced needed products for the host organizations, such as business plans, marketing plans, updated personnel manuals, updated financial statements, etc., at less than market cost.

The internship academic course has been added to the IIT School of Business and Arts Curriculum. Some businesses/agencies which participated during previous years were so pleased with the program that they are hosting interns again.

We have received funding from Project Renew, Wells Fargo Bank, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Kauffman Center and other sources to maintain Economic Development service provision.