Today, the City of Tulsa and its community partners celebrated three years of the Financial Empowerment Center offering free, professional one-on-one financial counseling to all Tulsans.
In December 2020, the City of Tulsa and Goodwill Industries of Tulsa partnered to launch the evidence-based national model and have grown the program to serve over 700 Tulsans who have collectively increased their savings by almost $250,000 and reduced more than $800,000 in debt.
"Over the last three years, the Tulsa Financial Empowerment Center has done an incredible job serving Tulsans through some of the most challenging times in our city's history," Mayor G.T. Bynum said. "I am incredibly thankful for our team at the City and our community partners who have dedicated their time to this important work."
Tulsa is one of 32 municipal governments across the nation providing financial counseling as a free public service.
“Offering financial counseling at no cost to Tulsans over the past three years through the FEC has been a powerful and rewarding addition to Goodwill Tulsa’s financial wellness programs, furthering our work to break down barriers and empower Tulsans to achieve their financial goals," said David Oliver, President of Goodwill Industries of Tulsa. "We look forward to continuing our partnership on this valuable program for many more years to come.”
Due to demand, the City of Tulsa plans to bring on Tulsa Responds as a second provider partner, doubling the program’s capacity in 2024. With Goodwill and Tulsa Responds teams, the Tulsa FEC will have a total of seven counselors available to work with Tulsans on their financial goals.
"Tulsa Responds is honored to have been selected as a new FEC provider to further connect those we serve with financial empowerment best practices.," said Marcela Swenson, Tulsa Responds' Executive Director. "Our team is excited to build on existing partnerships to integrate financial counseling into programming across the community."
The FEC model focuses on access to safe and affordable banking, increasing savings and building assets, reducing debt, establishing or improving credit scores, budgeting, and other financial management best practices. The service is free and available to anyone in Tulsa. To schedule an appointment, call (918) 802-7279 or go online to www.goodwilltulsa.org/fec.
For questions or potential partnerships, please contact Janae Bradford, Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment & Community Wealth, at [email protected].
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