Financial Literacy Month Spotlight: Center for Changing Lives

April is Financial Literacy Month, which raises awareness on the importance of financial education and smart money-making decisions. Over the next few weeks, we will highlight some of our incredible grant recipients that are empowering communities of color with tools for financial empowerment and wealth-building.

Center for Changing Lives (CCL) is a financial opportunity center that partners with residents to help them overcome obstacles and achieve their economic potential. The organization provides various financial education programs, including housing, small business coaching and employment. CCL is also part of the 3C Counseling Alliance, which aims to build a strong pipeline of potential homebuyers.

Recently, Adriana Delgado, a housing and financial coach at CCL, spoke with Liz Weber, Trust content specialist, about the organization’s programs, helping Black and Latine communities build trust with financial institutions, and the importance of creating confidence to achieve their financial goals.

How would you describe the financial literacy programs you do at your organization?

Adriana Delgado: We aim to serve the whole person because if one area of their life is not working, the other isn’t. We plan to work with them long-term to make their financial goals happen, whether it’s increasing savings or establishing credit or homeownership. As housing and financial coaches, we work one-on-one with individuals to meet them where they’re at and help them build that financial knowledge. The spectrum is broad: Some folks have never had a bank account, so we have conversations about why they should be banking. Then, others are on the path of homeownership, so we discuss credit and savings to make their housing goals a reality.

We also provide free group education workshops on the following topics.

• Mi Casa, Su Casa is our first-time home-buyer workshop. After completing our class, attendees can get the certificates needed to apply for down payment assistance programs.
• Lending Basics is an introduction to credit and mortgage lending.
• Café y Poder is a monthly meeting about topics that include finances and housing.
• The Money and US curriculum is geared toward parents of children ages two to five and aims to teach them how to introduce financial topics age-appropriately.

In your work, what are some misconceptions about financial literacy that you’ve come across?

AD: We view our programs through the lens of financial education as opposed to financial literacy because sometimes there could be a negative connotation that comes with the word literacy. With the people we serve – Black and Brown communities – I think there’s sometimes distrust in institutions. I like to demystify banking, for example. It’s a safe option, and the money will be there. If someone broke into your house and stole $10,000, that’s gone forever. However, there are systems and processes in place that make banking safe. I aim to clarify any misconceptions that folks may have about finances.

Can you talk more about the people you serve and how financial literacy can create a positive impact in their lives?

AD: Center For Changing Lives originally started in Logan Square and Humboldt Park. Most of our members fall at or below 30% of the area median income, so we’re targeting folks who are sometimes forgotten and harder to reach. Most are Latine, so we offer bilingual programming for everyone to access.  Right now, we’ve expanded our services to make sure we’re meeting our community needs, including opening a satellite office in South Chicago, a community that has been historically underserved and with unemployment rates higher than the rest of the city. There hadn’t been any financial opportunity centers in South Chicago until recently, so we hope to start doing work that has a meaningful impact on the community.

For the second part of the question, we recognize that society isn’t perfect. Not everyone has the same access to resources, privileges or education. Folks experience different barriers and some of them are systemic. While we may not be able to address all those barriers, we know that by providing our members with the financial knowledge they need, they’ll be equipped to make the best decisions for themselves. Our work is multi-generational wealth building, so we hope our members can also pass this knowledge to their children.

Can you talk more about the types of systemic issues to building wealth are these residents are often up against?

AD: Our services are open to everyone – regardless of immigration status, criminal status, or income level – so we see a wide variety of barriers. We’ve recently identified the lack of lending options for ITIN holders, even though we know that a mortgage is a safer risk for banks to take. And when they do find a lender, they sometimes require additional capital, higher down payments, or higher interest rates. We also know people of color are getting higher interest rates than their white counterparts. Because many of the families we work with have lower incomes, it takes much longer to create those savings to get to homeownership. Or they’re on fixed incomes, which takes more work to make their financial goals happen. On the flipside, once they meet that goal, it makes our work more rewarding because we want to see everyone succeed.

What role can financial literacy play in ensuring that Black and Latine Chicagoans can build a pathway to financial stability and generational wealth?

AD: We know a lack of confidence in financial education in communities of color exists. So, our hope is that by addressing that lack of confidence, they can make appropriate decisions for themselves and their families. For example, they can feel confident to have a certain credit score so that they can buy a home. Or if they have extra income and maybe venture into investing to save for retirement. It is in creating that confidence that hopefully, they can take these risks and that they can then pass it down to their children so they can also feel knowledgeable in making good financial decisions.