Through already existing pilots, public-private partnerships should evaluate how individual development accounts (IDAs) can achieve sustainable community objectives. IDAs provide a means to build wealth for the poor and low-income by matching savings with funds from external sources such as foundations, corporations, religious institutions, and government. Building personal assets and facilitating connections to mainstream banks can be vital in building sustainable communities in distressed metropolitan and rural areas. Over 20 states have changed their policies to enable IDA experiments, many of which are being coordinated by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. A 1999 initiative of the U.S. Treasury Department that mandates electronic funds transfer for federal distributions provides a unique opportunity to link welfare and welfare-to-work recipients with mainstream financial institutions.