Financial Empowerment Center Grant Award Press Release
CITY AWARDED $150,000 GRANT TO LAUNCH SOUTH BEND FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT CENTER, OFFERING FINANCIAL COUNSELING AS FREE PUBLIC SERVICE
On September 10th, the national Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund awarded the City of South Bend a $150,000 grant to support the launch of its Financial Empowerment Center. The South Bend Financial Empowerment Center (SBFEC) will offer no-cost, one-on-one financial counseling for South Bend residents and is the first of its kind in Indiana. At the SBFEC, professionally trained FEC counselors will 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.
The City selected the Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc. (NNN) to operate the SBFEC, following a competitive application process. The SBFEC will launch at temporary locations across the City later this year, until its permanent home at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Dream Center opens in 2025.
“We are thrilled to launch the South Bend Financial Empowerment Center with the support of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund,” said South Bend Mayor James Mueller. “We thank the Near Northwest Neighborhood for this new partnership to empower residents throughout the city and help them achieve their financial goals and thrive.”
“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.”
In addition to the grant funding, the award provides technical assistance and resources to help City staff and the NNN as they build the SBFEC as a high-quality service for residents. The grant supplements Redevelopment Commission funding approved earlier this year for the SBFEC.
“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 are working to join a growing national movement 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 model is being replicated nationally by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, a national nonprofit organization that works to improve the financial stability of low- and moderate-income households by embedding financial empowerment strategies into local government infrastructure. Financial Empowerment Centers have been implemented in over thirty municipalities throughout the United States with proven success. The FEC movement is supported by seed funder Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as the Wells Fargo Foundation and other generous partners.
To learn more about the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund and the Financial Empowerment Center model, visit fecpublic.org.
Request for Proposal (RFP) for Financial Empowerment Center Nonprofit Service Provider
Please view the RFP here.
The City of South Bend’s Department of Community Investment (the “City”) is seeking a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to serve as the financial counseling provider for the City’s new Financial Empowerment Center (“FEC”). This Request for Proposals (“RFP”) is targeted toward organizations that can effectively implement high-volume, quality, one-on-one financial counseling services to low-income individuals and families. The selected financial counseling provider will implement programming and services in partnership with the City. A nonprofit may choose to partner with other nonprofit organizations to provide services under this RFP, but the proposal must clearly identify the lead organization.
For applicant questions about the RFP, the City is able to answer questions until April 8, 2024 at 11:59 pm. Please direct all questions to RDCRFP@southbendin.gov.
RFP Timeline
| Date | Item |
| Feb 13, 2024 | RFP Posted |
| Feb 20, 2024 | Informational Webinar for RFP |
| April 8, 2024 | All Applicant Questions Due to the City |
| April 15, 2024 | RFP Submission Due by 11:59 P.M. EST |
| May 2024 | Selected Nonprofit Provided Notified of Selection |
| June 2024 | City-Nonprofit Provider Contract Signed |
| Aug-Sept 2024 | Contract Begins; Hiring & Training of FEC Staff |
| Fall 2024 | FEC Services Begin; FEC Soft Launch |
| 2025 | FEC Full Launch at MLK Dream Center |
Check Out Our FEC Webinar
Request for Proposals FAQs
Does the City provide funding for this contract? If so, what does the funding cover?
Yes, the City will provide $500,000 for 2 years of operations and is working to secure funding for future years. These funds will cover FEC staff salary and benefits, administrative support, marketing/outreach, counselor training, necessary equipment and supplies, and other indirect costs. A sample budget can be found in Exhibit C of the RFP (Page 13).
How will City staff be involved in implementing and operating the Financial Empowerment Center?
The City will assign a City employee as the Financial Empowerment Center’s local government manager, who will be responsible for program oversight of the Financial Empowerment Center. The local government manager will work in partnership with the financial counseling provider, coordinating and communicating frequently to ensure program success. The nonprofit financial counseling provider will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Financial Empowerment Center.
Are the staff of the Financial Empowerment Center (1 Program Manager, 2 Financial Counselors) employees of my nonprofit or the City?
The staff of the Financial Empowerment Center are employees of the nonprofit financial service provider. The nonprofit is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and supervising Financial Empowerment Center staff, which includes 1 Program Manager and 2 Financial Counselors.
Will Financial Empowerment Center staff be trained on FECBOT (the FEC’s database)?
Yes, there will be training on how to utilize and analyze FECBOT, the FEC’s database. Both the training and database itself are provided free of charge to the nonprofit. Use of FECBOT is required for FEC staff.
How many clients will the Financial Empowerment Center be expected to serve each year?
Each financial counselor will be expected to conduct 480 sessions in the first year and 600 sessions per counselor in the second year. For example, if one resident attends an initial counseling session and two follow-up sessions, this counts as three sessions. This translates roughly to 175 people per counselor in year one and 200 people per counselor in year two.
Are we allowing nonprofit partnerships to apply to the RFP?
The City is willing to evaluate nonprofit partnership submissions as the financial counseling providers on a case-by-case basis. The application must clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of each organization of the partnership. The City will only award funding to the lead applicant organization.
Is data available for client profiles and outcomes for Financial Empowerment Centers in cities similar to South Bend?
Unfortunately, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) does not have regional or geographic-specific data available. However, the CFE Fund recently released 2023 national data on client profiles and outcomes, found below.
What are the responsibilities of the FEC program manager?
The FEC Program Manager’s primary responsibilities include managing the two financial counselors, managing the database, doing marketing and outreach, communicating with the City to ensure success, and managing the counselors’ continuing education. The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund has found that having the program manager as a full-time position makes for a more successful FEC, as the manager is not divided between priorities.
Can we propose creative staffing solutions to FEC staff beyond 3 full-time staff?
The City is willing to consider alternative staffing solutions for the FEC (e.g., 4 part-time FEC counselors). The Applicant must thoroughly explain the rationale and plan for implementing an alternative staffing plan if proposed.
Does the budget proposal have to match the sample budget?
The sample budget is merely a guideline on the different costs of FEC operations; it does not need to be followed exactly. Applicants are encouraged to propose their own amounts for operation items in their budget, even if they believe the amount listed in the sample budget are not conducive to a successful FEC. The City is willing to discuss with potential applicants before applying regarding further description about funding.
Are there opportunities for youth under 18 to receive financial counseling at the Financial Empowerment Center?
The national Financial Empowerment Center model currently does not allow youth under 18 to receive FEC counseling due to liability concerns. However, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund is currently exploring adding a youth financial counseling program to the FEC model in the future.
Parents and guardians of youth under 18 can bring their children to an FEC appointment. However, due to liability concerns, all financial counseling must be geared toward the parent or guardian.
Does the contract funding include employee benefits for FEC staff?
It is expected that the $500,000 funding for the 2-year FEC contract will be able to cover benefits for the staff. There is not additional funding that the nonprofit needs to provide for benefits beyond the FEC contract funding. Applicants should include employees benefits as a part of their proposal.
Is there a cost to the nonprofit for FEC counseling training? How long does training take?
The only paid training will be through the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors (NACCC) to provide each member of FEC staff with a Financial Counseling Certification, a self-paced online course that takes 120-150 hours to complete. This training costs $1500 per staff member. The remainder of the training described in the FAQ below will be provided at no cost to the nonprofit.
The FEC contract begins while FEC staff are being trained. Therefore, it is expected that employee salaries will be covered by the $500,000 FEC contract during staff training.
Do FEC staff undergo financial counseling training?
Yes, each FEC staff will undergo training and must complete an FEC Certification Exam at the end of their training. The City will coordinate with the nonprofit service provider to develop a training curriculum. FEC staff training includes the following areas:
- Core Training: Offered by a third party, pre-approved training provider covering the following topics:
- Context of Poverty, Cultural and Socio-Economic Factors
- Financial Content
- Counseling and Coaching Skills
- Practice and Experiential Learning: Each Counselor is required to complete at least 20-30 hours of shadowing and experiential learning (e.g., shadowing other counselors, discussing client cases, practicing data entry, and completing mock sessions).
- Additional Onboarding Trainings, including:
- *Code of Ethics: Training on the ethics of counseling, including identifying conflicts of interest, setting boundaries, etc.
- *FEC Model: Training on the FEC Model, counseling process, and outcomes.
- *FEC Database: Training on the FEC database.
- Local Training: Training on localized financial topics, including public benefits and consumer financial protection.
- Partner Training: Training on FEC partners and their services.
- Continuing Education: Following their initial onboarding training, each Counselor must complete at least 30 hours of continuing education each year including one hour of ethics.
*These trainings are provided by the CFE Fund at no cost to each FEC locality.
Financial Empowerment Blueprint Events
