Every month Second Unitarian donates one half of our offering to a local non-profit organization. This month we will “share the plate” with Financial Hope Collaborative.

The Financial Success Program (FSP), the main program of the Financial Hope Collaborative, is a 100% grant funded financial education platform. It is a year-long comprehensive financial education and coaching program specifically designed for single mothers. The intent of the curriculum is to promote effective change in financial behavior for low to moderate income families. Dinner and childcare are provided as those are the usually the two biggest barriers to participation for single mothers. The nine-week curriculum was created to address the immediate financial issues for the target population. The curriculum includes tracking expenses, saving for emergencies, and repairing credit reports. Information on taxes, insurance, predatory lending, building healthy relationships, and the psychology of money are also provided. One year of financial coaching is also provided to the FSP graduates.

Participants’ newfound hopefulness and the change in their attitude toward their finances translated into an 85% retention rate for the 9 week classroom training. This program also tracks financial behavior changes in such areas as overdrafts, late fees, payday loans, and shut-off notices the year before they enroll in FSP and one year after graduating from the FSP. Participants who had three or more of those behaviors showed significant changes after one year.

There have been over 800 graduates from the program to date. Over half of these graduates have either gone back to school or completed a certificate so they can earn higher salaries to better support their families.

If you know of a local charitable organization that you would like to nominate for Share the Plate, please complete the nomination form that can be found in the orange folder on the church office door.