Each month that Temeka sets aside $100, she is putting her mother’s advice into practice: Pay yourself.
Already, through Hope through Housing’s Money Match program, her commitment has generated $1,200 in savings. Money Match, which provides matching savings to residents of affordable housing as an incentive during a six-month financial literacy education program, is celebrating the graduation of its 2026 participants this month.
“It was a little tight, but I just did it,” Temeka said. “It was a real accomplishment for me.”
Her mother, who raised Temeka on one income, had shown her why savings mattered long ago – drawing from her emergency accounts when Temeka would need school supplies or the car broke down.
But Temeka struggled to emulate the example.
After her mother died in 2021, Temeka struggled with grief and eventually experienced homelessness in Indio. In March 2024, Temeka, her daughter and granddaughter moved into Vista de La Sierra, a National CORE affordable housing community in Riverside.
There, she began rebuilding stability thanks to the reduced rent and Hope through Housing’s suite of resident services.
At first, her limited income went toward rent, utilities and household necessities, leaving little room to save. She joined the Money Match program in March, learning from workshops and guidance about how to manage credit and address debt.
“I wanted to see if I could actually do it,” she said.
Over six months, Temeka changed the role of savings on her list of priorities. She committed to putting money aside when she received her paycheck, treating it as a necessity alongside paying her rent.
Temeka also worked on paying off accounts in collections. She eliminated unneeded expenses, canceling a paid credit-monitoring subscription after learning she could access credit information for free. And she practiced restraint before shopping, choosing to keep wearing the shoes she owned rather than buy a new pair.
“I have enough clothes. I have enough shoes,” Temeka said. “When it’s time for me to get the things that I want, then I’ll get them.”
By graduation, those monthly decisions had added up to $600 of her own savings. With the program’s matching contribution, she had $1,200 and a routine she wanted to continue.
As Temeka continues saving, she hopes to build something she can eventually leave for her children and granddaughter. She is also pursuing a goal to buy her own home. Completing Money Match has strengthened her confidence in taking those next steps.
“I’m starting to actually believe in myself for once in my life,” she said.
