Budget Coaches Share that it Pays to Get Smart About Money

It makes sense to get Smart About Money.

The twelve households that participated in a new pilot program learned that they could get smart about how they spend their money, and make changes to improve their financial situation.  Smart About Money (SAM) is a program that matches volunteer budget coaches with lower-income households to help participants set and achieve financial goals.  The Annie E. Casey Foundation and United Way of Greater New Haven have partnered to bring the program to people living in New Haven, Hamden, East Haven and West Haven.

At the close of the pilot session, SAM budget coaches got together to share their experiences, success and challenges to help guide the program.  The common story was that households that committed to working with their budget coach for six months had great success.  Households increased savings, reduced debts and learned new ways to take control of their finances.

The budget coaches shared stories of their participants’ accomplishments, and the challenges that both coaches and households faced.  The network of coaches became a great resource to each other, and many will continue to share their knowledge and support for SAM as they recruit new budget coaches and work with new households in the next SAM session.  "Being able to coach people through real financial hardships with success,” noted one coach, “was intrinsically rewarding."

Pictured above are SAM Budget Coaches Diego Montoya and William Dwyer III of Barnum Financial Group, Cathy Graves of Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and Mary Magri of Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services receiving certificates of appreciation along with Amy Casavina-Hall of United Way and Yolanda Caldera-Durant of E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services.

If you are interested in joining the next cohort of SAM coaches or participants visit uwgnh.org/sam, email jmccray@uwgnh.org or call 203-691-4216 for more info.