seattle financial empowerment center city of seattle
TRANSCRIPT
Seattle Financial Empowerment Center
City of Seattle
A FEC is a program that provides FREE high-quality professional one-on-one financial education, counseling, and coaching to help people improve their financial stability and achieve their financial goals.
What is a Financial Empowerment Center (FEC)?
The Financial Empowerment Center will help people to:
• Establish credit or improve their credit scores• Reduce and manage their debt• Manage their money, open and maintain affordable mainstream bank
accounts• Save money to use in an emergency or for a goal (education, car,
housing, retirement, etc.)
The FEC will help connect clients with other services including tax preparation, enrollment into health insurance, legal advice for financial problems, housing, and foreclosures.
What is a Financial Empowerment Center?
Who can receive free services at FEC sites?
Anyone living in Seattle and throughout King County and our region who wants to improve her/his financial situation is welcome to receive high quality personalized financial counseling at any FEC site. There is no income or other eligibility criteria.
We especially want to encourage client referrals from housing, homeless-serving, employment and training, education, family centers, immigrant and refugee, citizenship, domestic violence, public health, and other human and social services programs.
Were are the FEC sites?
Centerstone722 18th Ave.Seattle, WA 98122
Lee House at New Holly7315 39th Ave. S.Seattle, WA 98118
YWCA Opportunity Place2024 3rd Ave.Seattle, WA 98121
Rainier Vista4431 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. Seattle, WA 98108
NSCC 9600 College Way N. Seattle, WA 98103
Wiley Center at Greenbridge9800 8th Ave. S.W.Seattle, WA 98106
Solid Ground1501 N. 45th St. Seattle, WA 98103
How to make an appointment to see a FEC counselor?
Go to: http://nhwa.fullslate.com/
I want to refer someone to the FEC
Who is sponsoring the FEC?The FEC is brought to you by the City of Seattle with primary funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The City has contracted with Neighborhood House to implement and operate the FEC sites. Neighborhood House was selected in a competitive process and has embraced the opportunity to help people achieve their financial goals.
The Financial Empowerment Network / Seattle & King County (formerly the Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative) has partnered with the City and Neighborhood House to support the work of Seattle's FECs. Many nonprofit partners are hosting FEC satellite sites, making referrals, and providing additional services to FEC clients.
The City of Seattle, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and Neighborhood House are replicating the FEC model that New York City has operated since 2008. Five additional cities established FECs at the end of 2012. The FECs have helped thousands of people to reduce their debt, improve their credit, open and maintain safe, affordable bank accounts, and save for the future.
How do I know that FEC services will help people?
How do I know that the financial counseling and coaching I receive is professional and high quality?
• All FEC counselors must take and pass a rigorous course before they can work with clients.
• City University of New York (CUNY) and the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs/Office of Financial Empowerment first developed and offered this course.
• We worked with North Seattle Community College to adapt the course for Washington State. In addition, FEC counselors take advantage of ongoing technical assistance and training to help their clients achieve their financial goals.
Why are FEC services important?• Poor credit and too much debt can hurt people in many ways
including hurting their chances to get a good job or to rent or buy an apartment or home.
• Having a safe, affordable bank account is the entry point to other mainstream financial services. Having money in savings is important because without it, any emergency (such as a car breaking down) can lead to financial ruin. Also, savings are important to achieve financial goals (such as for education, buying a car, obtaining housing, retirement, etc.).
• Financial insecurity is an underlying condition of many clients participating in social services programs. We believe that FEC services will not only help people to achieve financial empowerment outcomes, but will also help them to do better in the program that referred them to the FEC.
