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Jan McCray the program administrator for Smart About Money (SAM) a free budget coaching program assisting low to moderate income residents of New Haven, West Haven, East Haven and Hamden set and achieve financial goals through a series of one on one sessions with trained volunteer budget coaches for period of six months. Jan also has lead responsibility for community initiatives including New Haven County’s Emergency Food and Shelter National Program (EFSP) which invests critical dollars in emergency services (e.g. food insecurity, rental eviction and mortgage foreclosure prevention,...

Increasing Financial Stability for the Unbanked and Underbanked

Submitted by Jan McCray Price on April 9, 2010 - 3:20pm

An estimated 19% of Connecticut households (the highest rate in New England) either have no checking and savings account, or use fringe financial services rather than their own banking accounts. While 61% of CT’s unbanked/underbanked individuals are employed full-time in New Haven County 7.2% (the highest rate in Connecticut) of these individuals who can least afford it, pay to cash payroll, government entitlement checks and pay bills. In addition, due to their non-utilization and under utilization of the traditional financial systems these households lack strong credit histories and the safety of secured financial holdings.

This is why yesterday’s forum at Graustein Memorial Fund to discuss a new initiative “Bank on CT” featuring key note speaker, State Treasurer, Denise Nappier is relevant to our community and aligns with United Way of Greater New Haven’s Income work helping “families and individuals achieve greater financial success”.

“Bank on CT” is one of 15 statewide initiatives (including California and Illinois) in the nation geared toward increasing access to and developing financial products for the unbanked and underbanked. Around the county “Bank On’s” are lead by collaborative including government, financial institutions, community and faith based organizations. To learn more about the “Bank On” campaign check out www.joinbankon.org”.

To help us educate the community about the importance of United Way’s work check out some of the FDIC’s data on Connecticut’s unbanked/underbanked households and increasing awareness of the need for increased access to financial education and financial products to develop sustainable credit histories and build assets for low-moderate income individuals.

Click the links below to learn more: