The United Way of Bartholomew County is looking for volunteer financial coaches for a joint initiative that seeks to boost the financial well-being of local residents.
The program, MoneyStrong, pairs volunteer financial coaches with Bartholomew County residents needing help with managing their personal finances, including learning how to budget, build up savings and improve their credit scores, said Cathy King, financial stability coordinator at United Way of Bartholomew County. Coaches and participants meet one-on-one to set financial goals and develop a plan to reach them.
“We have had a lot of success with participants who have been through the program,” said King, who has been training coaches for the program since 2016. “We have had several folks who came out of the program with some savings and a much more positive outlook for their finances.”
MoneyStrong, which started in 2016, has seen the number of its coaches reduced by about half. In 2016, there were 23 coaches matched with 23 participants, according to King. Last year, there were 12 coaches and 17 participants.
King said there are no requirements for becoming a coach. Financial coaches typically go through two, three-hour training sessions on weeknights. The first session is about how to coach. The second session teaches prospective coaches how to set up a budget with participants and pull credit scores and credit reports.
“Coaches don’t need to have any financial counseling experience,” King said. “They just need to have a willingness to help people.”
Though the U.S. economy has largely regained its mojo since the financial crisis in 2008, with the unemployment rate reaching a 49-year low of 3.7 percent in September, many people still lack savings and are living paycheck to paycheck, according to MoneyStrong organizers.
MoneyStrong is a joint initiative between the Bartholomew County Financial Literacy Coalition, Human Services Inc. and the United Way of Bartholomew County.
“We all are trying to work together to make free financial coaching accessible to anyone who is interested,” King said.
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Anyone interested in receiving financial counseling or becoming a volunteer financial coach can visit bemoneystrong.org or email Cathy King at cking@uwbarthco.org
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