How Do The C2A Programs Work?

Quick overview of how the C2A programs work:

choose2advance Housing Program:

As we noted on the “Why” page, the biggest expense for our Arvada young professionals is “housing”. Not just rent, but utilities, cable/Wi-Fi, insurance and so on. Easily these costs can be over $1500 -$2000/month. ($24,000 “after tax” dollars per year).

Participants in the C2A program are provided housing, utilities, Wi-Fi and “no cost” to them for 6 months. The housing is provided by generous and community minded Arvada neighbors. (most often a comfortable spare bedroom/bathroom - their own space) The C2A program requires them to save the money they would have spent on housing directly into an Emergency Savings bank account. That bank account will be in the participant’s name, but the account is monitored by the C2A program.

In this overview example, the participant would save $1500 for 6 months. That is a total of $9000 that would now automatically accumulate in their Emergency Savings account. This account will provide these young professionals with a buffer in the future to manage their career options. There is a fee that C2A collects from the participant to cover the costs necessary to run the program. Currently that fee is set at $99/month.

The housing (at no cost) is offered to these participants by amazing members of the Arvada community that has a spare bedroom/bathroom, and they are willing to provide the space to these young professionals for 6 months to help them reach their goal of growing a 6-month Emergency Savings account.

The founder of C2A and his wife are among the homeowners sharing their Arvada home with the C2A participants.

“Having a participant stay in our home is no doubt an small inconvenience, but the financial boost we provide these young professionals outweigh that issue. They save $9000 and it really does not cost me as the homeowner any significant money.” - Mike Armstrong

2026 Goal: 10 participants/10 homeowners. If we reach our goal of 10 participants, and they each save $9000, in just 6 months we will have generated $90,000 of wealth for these young professionals. All without any significant costs to the homeowner or the participant.

Note: Homeowners and Participants will be voluntarily be screened to determine the right fit for the opportunity.

No fundraising work necessary! No volunteering work necessary! Just people in the same community willing to share resources with the next generation is all it takes to generate the $90,000 of wealth for these young professionals.

choose2advance Mentoring Program:

This is a new offering. When we launched the C2A Housing Program in NH in 2022 our homeowners reported that they developed significant mentor/mentee relationships with the young professionals living in their homes. This was not unexpected but not a part of the design. With shared experiences, shared goals of advancing and quality time together it just was a welcomed byproduct of the mission. Here in Arvada we will help guide homeowners on how they can also be mentors with their house guests if they feel called to do so. (not required or expected)

What we learned was that the young professionals welcomed and appreciated these mentoring opportunities. This mentoring program is an outgrowth of that.

We will share more as we build out this new program but here are the basics:

  • Just like the Housing Program, the Mentor program will be offered at low or no costs.

  • Mentors will be screened and trained. There are simple ways to show up as a Mentor that research has found to be productive and helpful.

  • In selecting Mentors we will be looking for “good listeners”. Most of the helpful outcomes that Mentees have noted surrounded simply just having a person with whom to share their goals and plans. And, to hear their own thoughts out loud.

  • Advice is best absorbed and put into practice when the person giving the advice has first intentionally listened to the recipient of that advice. It’s easy, but takes some practice.

  • What is nice about our Mentors is that they don’t arrive with any authority or predetermined outcome. As a Mentee you, and only you, decide what path is right for you. Advice from your Mentor is just one data point to consider. Try what works for you and revisit what worked and didn’t work with your Mentor. We are just hear to listen, discuss and mostly…cheer you on!

Will you choose2advance?