SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Many people feel frustrated or confused at some point in their lives about savings, debt or bills. It can feel overwhelming, but there are people out there who can help.
More than 1,000 people in Sacramento received free one-on-one financial coaching through a program.
“One of the things that we see is that the financial burdens spill over to everything else in their life,” said Jennifer Shaw, president of the Shaw Law Group. “They have a hard time getting a better job, they have a hard time finding a better place to live, they're often suffering from depression because of the financial obligations that they're facing.”
It’s why the Sacramento Financial Empowerment Center offers free financial coaching for adults living in Sacramento. Their services are personalized to specific needs and interests, and the program has no income restrictions.
Coaches work with people who want to establish or improve credit, reduce debt or build savings, and connect with safe and affordable banking services.
“Any community program that gives people the ability to get a little bit of a better handle on their finances really helps them in so many ways, professionally and personally,” said Shaw.
According to the center, clients attend – on average – about four sessions. They’ve increased their savings by more than $2,000 and reduced their debt by more than $2,500. Nearly 130 clients have increased their credit scores, most by 35 or more points.
“Even small business owners have challenges with financial issues and once they get a handle on those, they can treat their employees better, they can make a better product. There are just so many things that come out of feeling financially secure,” said Shaw.
According to the center, most clients are women. The clients on average make around $34,000 a year and most work full-time.
“I've been really amazed at the diversity of people who participate… it may be someone who's a single father or single mother, who's had a hard time financially for a while,” said Shaw. “I've had college kids take advantage of this program to try to figure out how to pay off their student loans, or how they're going to save money to buy their first house.”
Coaching is available directly in English and interpretation for some languages is available upon request. Most coaching is conducted by phone or video chat.
“It can be intimidating for people to open up their lives to a stranger or to a government agency, to have someone looking at what you're doing and how you're spending your money,” said Shaw.
The free program is popular and the team says they received a surge in appointment requests, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t immediately make an appointment as the team will get back to you.
“I tend to encourage anyone who feels like they need a little bit of help in this area to take advantage of this program. It really does empower people to feel better about themselves, and to be able to provide more for the people they care about because they've got that level of competency and security when it comes to their finances,” said Shaw.
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