Moment #4: Los Angeles Alliance for Economic Inclusion

Achieving a credit score of 800+ is the start of a new financial life. Treasure Owens, Financial Coach with the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) shares story after story of success in helping clients achieve financial capability through the LISC sponsored Financial Opportunity Center (FOC). LISC has implemented the FOC model, which provides sponsorship, technical assistance and technology resources to non-profits working with clients to integrate the services of employment access, financial coaching and confirmed access to public benefits.

From left to right: Treasure Owens, CRCD Senior Financial Coach; Carlos Vasquez, Vernon-Central WorkSource Center Director; and Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, LA LISC Executive Director speak about the Financial Opportunity Center Model

At the February 2017 LA Alliance for Economic Inclusion convening, we highlighted the national successes of implementing the FOC model for more than a decade, while providing local context of the experiences of LA clients that had accessed career pathways leading to increase income, decreased debt and increase in credit scores. There is no doubt that low-income families face substantial challenges to achieving financial security and upward mobility. The FOC model goes a step beyond financial education and equips clients with the tools needed to navigate systems and financial problem solve and plan for current life circumstances. For more information about how the FOC model has shown to be a critical strategy that can disrupt generational poverty, see  First Steps on the Road to Financial Well-being: Final Report from the Evaluation of LISC’s Financial Opportunity Centers.