PITTSBURGH, PA (June 22, 2020) The City of Pittsburgh’s Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) has provided direct personal financial management support to 557 people between the launch of the program on March 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020. As a result of their enrollment in the program, area residents have saved a combined $319,777 and reduced their debts by $223,417 total.
The Pittsburgh FEC offers free professional one-on-one financial counseling for individuals and families looking to address their financial challenges and plan for their futures. Any area resident over the age of 18 can register to meet regularly with an accredited financial counselor, now available by phone or video, who will help them define and reach their own financial goals.
Those currently enrolled in the program have defined over 255 different personal outcomes including: build their savings, establish and improve their credit, reduce their debt, connect to safe and affordable banking products, use banking accounts actively, create budgets, manage student loans, and plan for retirement.
Other statistics in this recent FEC status report include:
- 54% of clients rent their home
- 23% own their home
- 66% of clients are between the ages of 21-45
- 66% of clients are female
- Average client age is 40
- 62% of clients are working full-time or part-time
Over a quarter of the FEC’s clients have registered since the beginning of local pandemic restrictions in March 2020 in response to the financial uncertainty caused by COVID-19. Pittsburgh FEC has been nationally recognized for its COVID-19 response in quickly migrating their services to phone and video and having counselors specially trained in federal and state COVID-19-specific assistance programs. In May, they received a grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to hire an additional counselor to assist in the COVID-19 emergency response to Pittsburgh residents’ financial hardships. Pittsburgh FEC was recently highlighted for its leadership in financial counseling assistance in the Bloomberg Cities SPARK newsletter.
Pittsburgh FEC is a free public service provided in partnership between the City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office of Equity, Neighborhood Allies, Advantage Credit Counseling Service, and Cities for Financial Empowerment. For more information or to register for counseling, visit their website or follow Pittsburgh FEC on Facebook.
