Syracuse residents can now receive free financial counseling at several city locations as part of a national movement to promote financial empowerment through local governments.

The Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center opened in July after the city received a grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, a national non-profit organization supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Syracuse is one of several cities across the country to receive funding from the organization to create an empowerment center,said Mary Margaret O’Hara, manager of Syracuse’s center.

At the center, city residents can receive free one-on-one counseling services to help them improve their personal finances, O’Hara said. These services encompass four different areas of assistance: building personal savings, reducing debt, improving credit scores and establishing a bank account.

Syracuse residents who visit the center complete a financial health assessment during their first session that counselors use to help create a plan of action that best addresses the individual’s financial needs, O’Hara said.

“People are coming in and they don’t realize how some areas of their life may be affecting their finances,” O’Hara said. “We work with them toward their own personal goals, such as saving money to go on vacation or paying off student loans.”

To ensure that Syracuse residents who utilize the center’s counseling services see meaningful change in their personal finances, the center tracks individuals’ bank statements and other financial records to verify that they are experiencing improvements in their finances, O’Hara said.  

Jonathan Mintz, president and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, said the organization chose to award Syracuse a grant because of Mayor Ben Walsh’s commitment to implementing the program in the city.

The $250,000 grant provided by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund is only intended to assist Syracuse in establishing the center, but the organization will continue to work with the city after the grant runs out to help make the center’s services sustainable, Mintz said.

The city is also partnering with several community organizations to provide alternative locations for Syracuse residents to receive financial counseling, O’Hara said. Several other local organizations have also partnered with the center, including the Allyn Family Foundation and Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E.

Syracuse is implementing financial counseling services at multiple locations to make the center as accessible as possible, said Karen Schroeder, chief communications officer of Home HeadQuarters, an organization partnering with the city.

Each host site has its own counselors, who can also travel to other locations in the city if needed, Schroeder said. The counseling provided by the center and its partner locations is a helpful tool for anybody to use, regardless of their financial situation, she said.. 

“Everyone has credit and financial issues,” Schroeder said. “You can come from any neighborhood, any background. Even just knowing myself, I could be saving so much money if I wasn’t doing things like going out to eat so often.” 

Mintz said the counseling services provided by the Financial Empowerment Center are important because the world of finances is often difficult for people to navigate. Individuals struggling with their personal finances are usually told to gain financial literacy through websites or classes rather than being directed to a qualified professional, an approach which he said is ineffective.

“People need to be able to sit down one-on-one with a professional to get help,” Mintz said. “If somebody is sick, they don’t need a medical website. They need a doctor. And the same idea is true when people are in trouble with their finances.” 

Published on September 3, 2019 at 10:00 pm

Contact Gillian: gifollet@syr.edu