Location Category: madison_wi

Madison, WI

Financial Navigators

Thank you to our many municipal and funding partners for making this pandemic-era program such a bold and nimble success. Across 31 cities and counties, trained navigators helped thousands of residents identify and then access public resources targeted to address their individual needs. 

This program also has informed the CFE Fund’s Emergency Financial Empowerment program. To learn more about either program, please contact Sol Vilera Ramos, Principal.

 

The Financial Navigators initiative helped residents deal with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing remote assistance in navigating critical financial issues and making referrals to other social services and resources. With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Citi Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Wells Fargo Foundation, the CFE Fund partnered with 31 local governments across the country, providing them with technical assistance and funding to launch a new public Financial Navigators program.

Trained Financial Navigators provided structured guidance over the phone to help people strategize around supports for disruptions to their income and other financial concerns. They helped residents triage financial issues, identify immediate action steps, and make referrals to other services. Assistance included managing expenses through prioritizing payments and when to make them, as well as maximizing income through ensuring receipt of federal payments, unemployment benefits, and other resources. In partner cities and counties across the country, helping residents navigate the financial impact of COVID-19 through the Financial Navigators initiative was a critical part of front-line emergency response efforts.

CityStart

The CFE Fund’s CityStart initiative offers local governments a structured approach to identify financial empowerment goals, convene relevant stakeholders for sustainable success, develop actionable strategies, and ultimately craft a blueprint that is rooted in local insights and opportunities to consider and expand access to wealth.

This two-phase action engagement connects critical insights about the impact of financial instability on municipal governments with tangible, sustainable strategies to improve families’ financial lives. The first phase of the initiative is a learning phase, where the CFE Fund and municipal partners look to analyze the local landscape, including wealth extraction and accumulation impacting access to wealth; collect relevant data; and engage in intensive stakeholder roundtables to identify key challenges and opportunities. This also includes a resident engagement effort. Based on issues identified in the learning phase, as well as administration priorities, the CFE Fund works with local government partners on a design phase to craft a comprehensive, government-led financial empowerment blueprint; check out past CityStart blueprints from the City of Cincinnati and the City of Newark.

The CityStart initiative stems from the CFE Fund’s extensive work with local government leaders, and connects critical on-the-ground insights about the impact of financial instability on families, communities, and municipal budgets with tangible, measurable, and sustainable municipal strategies to improve residents’ financial lives. CityStart cities have historically leveraged their engagement with the CFE Fund to further their commitment to this work.

The CFE Fund is currently accepting applications for the next CityStart cohort. If you have any questions about the CityStart initiative, contact Sol Vilera Ramos, Principal.

Financial Empowerment Center Replication Initiative

Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) clients receive free, one-on-one professional counseling assistance with money management, budgeting, reducing debt, establishing and improving credit, connecting to safe and affordable banking services, building savings, preparing for legacy planning and protecting their assets, and referrals to other services and organizations. In partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, and additional generous support from Principal Foundation and the Wells Fargo Foundation, the CFE Fund is promoting FEC replication through cohorts of local leaders who are developing, launching, and implementing financial counseling as a free public service, along with strategic research projects to enhance the success of financial counseling. Get in touch to join as a supportive funding partner. 

The CFE Fund supports selected cities and counties interested in launching a Financial Empowerment Center through FEC Academy, a structured planning process designed to help local governments bring the FEC model to their communities. Through technical assistance, planning resources, training, and peer learning opportunities, FEC Academy helps local governments build the partnerships, funding strategies, and operational plans needed to launch and sustain a Financial Empowerment Center, providing professional, one-on-on financial counseling as a local public service.  

The Financial Empowerment Center Model

Professionally trained counselors support their clients in navigating complex financial challenges and choices, helping them identify and meet present challenges and future ambitions. Local governments offer FEC financial counseling as a free stand-alone public service, but also via integration into other social services including housing and foreclosure prevention services, workforce development, prisoner reentry, benefits access, domestic violence prevention, and more. Learn more at www.fecpublic.org.

Financial Empowerment Center Evaluation Findings

In 2013, the CFE Fund awarded its first grants to replicate the model in five cities through a $16.2 million, 3-year investment by Bloomberg Philanthropies. An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service, demonstrates the success of the 5-city implementation, drawing on data from 22,000 clients who participated in 57,000 counseling sessions across the first 5 city replication partners. 

The CFE Fund continues to enhance the FEC model; for example, we recently announced the addition of legacy planning (read the press release here) as a core FEC service area.