For the past 18 months, two community teams worked to create a service provider approach that embeds financial empowerment into the homeless service provider system and could be a model for all social service systems in the community. The “Money Talks” teams created a common language and a community vision where “all people in our community have the knowledge, tools and opportunities to fully participate in their quest for financial empowerment in a
respectful culture.”
One result of the “Money Talks” initiative has been the development of a Community Financial Empowerment Certification program that will provide training opportunities ranging from behavioral economics to
empowerment coaching.
Statistics show that many clients return for additional services as soon as the next crisis occurs. The “Money Talks” model helped service providers look to innovative strategies that break the crisis-to-crisis cycle. Providing support to increase the capability of clients to make informed choices and encourage them to take action toward their own financial goals is one such approach.
In recent years, Louisville has been laying a foundation to move the financial well-being of its residents to the forefront of community awareness and action. An array of public and non-profit programs provide critical resources and services daily to address the crisis experienced by residents across with basic human needs including food, housing, health, employment, transportation, childcare
and clothing.
Two initiatives, Bank On Louisville and the Family Economic Success Network, have brought a variety of partners together to help the unbanked and under-banked connect to mainstream financial services and access financial education and asset-building opportunities. With its universal reach and accessibility, a community-wide Financial Empowerment System may serve to help unify related systems like homeless, workforce and health. CSR has been the lead agency on many of these efforts.
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