Improving Family Economic Mobility
Families receiving one-on-one financial coaching reported the following after one year in the program:
%
are working on establishing a household budget
%
are working on improving their credit scores
%
have been able to decrease their debt
%
have been able to increase their assets
“I now have my financial confidence back. Heidi Reyes (Economic Mobility Specialist) has put us on a path toward becoming homeowners again. I am so grateful.”
~ Sycamore Springs Resident
Need for Hope
Most of our residents earn between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income, qualifying as extremely low- to low-income, and many of them lack the educational and financial literacy skills to progress beyond poverty.
Single mothers head 64% of the homes and 83% of our children qualify for free/reduced price meals.
Our families struggle to afford and access quality services.
Furthermore, southern Californians grapple with high costs of living, but Hope through Housing residents struggle even more to plan for, let alone save for, future goals such as sending their children to college or purchasing a home.
We aim to overcome these barriers, breaking the cycle of poverty and changing long-term financial and health habits through our mission and programs.
“We believe that all low-income families and individuals should have the economic resources and opportunities to thrive. Our goal is to introduce our residents to what they can do to achieve economic stability. Once they are efficient successful money managers, they can begin to climb the economic ladder to success and leave poverty behind.”
~ Sandra Bowers, Regional Director
How we Build Pathways to Economic Empowerment
Pathways to Economic Empowerment seeks to improve the financial and social well-being of our families through financial education, workforce development and one-on-one financial coaching. The program is designed to foster economic mobility and to help low-income residents in National CORE communities and surrounding neighborhoods to achieve stability and self-sufficiency.
Through a combination of financial literacy workshops, community partnerships, and individualized coaching, residents receive support, guidance and accountability to reach their personal and family goals. Pathways to Economic Empowerment provides a combination of group workshops and individual coaching designed to meet the following specific resident outcomes:
- Improving knowledge of and access to financial resources
- Increasing income through employment
- Decreasing debt through debt reduction & consolidation, and ending debt accumulation
- Increasing credit scores
- Increasing short- and long-term savings
- Increasing homeownership
