July 22, 2025
The City of South Bend and the Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc., in partnership with the national Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund), officially opened South Bend’s Financial Empowerment Center (FEC), offering professional, one-on-one financial counseling and coaching as a free public service to local residents. The South Bend FEC is supported by the CFE Fund and the City of South Bend through its Redevelopment Commission.
“We are thrilled to officially launch the South Bend Financial Empowerment Center which will empower residents and families and help them achieve their financial stability goals,” said South Bend Mayor James Mueller. “The City is grateful to the Near Northwest Neighborhood and to the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund in supporting South Bend’s mission in providing free, valuable resources to South Bend residents.”
The FEC has professionally trained counselors to help individuals and families with low and moderate incomes manage their finances, pay down debt, increase savings, establish and build credit, and access safe and affordable mainstream banking products. At the core of the FEC model is the integration of counseling into other social services, such as housing and foreclosure prevention, workforce development, prisoner reentry, benefits access, domestic violence services, and more. The City has partnered with the Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc. (NNN) to operate the South Bend FEC. The national FEC initiative is supported by the Wells Fargo Foundation and other generous partners.
“The SBFEC will use one-on-one, relational conversations to give clients the tools for healthy personal financial management, wealth building and future homeownership,” said André Northern, Director of Community Building and Empowerment for the NNN. “Collectively these tools adhere to our goals of reducing the racial wealth gap and giving families pathways out of poverty.”
Financial Empowerment Centers across the country have worked with almost 190,000 clients in helping them reduce individual debt by over $315 million and increasing their families’ savings by close to $62 million. In addition, a CFE Fund evaluation showed that this program works even for residents with very low incomes and other complex financial challenges. The City of South Bend is among several dozen local governments that have either launched or are in the process of launching a local FEC initiative.
“Local leaders know first-hand the connection between family financial stability and community financial stability,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “Mayor Mueller and the City of South Bend is one of several dozen local governments working to bring free, high-quality financial counseling as a public service to their residents; we are proud to partner with Mayor Mueller to help residents work towards a stronger financial future.” The FEC is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m-8 p.m located at the Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Center (1522 Linden Ave.) Appointments can be in-person or by phone and are available in English and Spanish. To learn more about the FEC and schedule an appointment, visit www.southbendfec.org. For more information about the CFE Fund, please visit www.cfefund.org