The United Way of Western Connecticut and a regional assembly of business-savvy activists have embraced April as Financial Literacy Month by offering entrée to financial knowledge on a personal or organizational level.
A program is ongoing for those 18 years or older in northern Fairfield County (or Southern Litchfield County) who are interested in free, one-on-one financial coaching assistance or, for organizations, in receiving a financial literacy workshop.
The Financial Resource Center has teamed with United Way for the program and is fielding calls at 203-297-6674.
The FRC is a community partnership of volunteer financial coaches, banks, local agencies and businesses “all working together to make a difference in our communities.”
The FRC has already hosted a financial literacy workshop at the Danbury Library and is currently holding a series of workshops at Del-Tron Precision Inc. in Bethel. The most popular topics requested are on budgeting, savings and credit.
The FRC reports that in a 2013 consumer financial literacy survey prepared for The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 60 percent of Americans said they do not have a household budget and 78 percent said they could benefit from advice and answers to everyday questions about money.
“It”™s a community partnership where everybody wins; residents are getting the financial literacy education and support they need, volunteers are finding joy in giving back in their particular area of expertise and the agencies and banks are able to refer their clients to the FRC for financial literacy education and one-on-one coaching,” said Karen Mello, director of financial stability at United Way of Western Connecticut, who serves as coordinator of the program. “Each of the clients come to us with a different ”˜financial story.”™ However, at the end of the day, it”™s really all the same: financial.”
