Tulsa Responds has opened a second Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) to offer free, individualized, financial counseling to individuals and families in Tulsa.  

 

The new Tulsa Responds FEC location will have four financial empowerment counselors available for appointments. Through this expansion, the City of Tulsa and Tulsa Responds have collaborated with three nonprofit organizations, JusticeLink, South Tulsa Community House, and Tulsa Public Schools’ Parent Resource Center, to have financial counselors onsite at their facilities and provide their clients with the knowledge needed to achieve financial empowerment and resilience.  

 

"After seeing such impressive success at the first Financial Empowerment Center, I am excited and grateful that we are able to partner with Tulsa Responds to open another location, where additional counselors will be able to help even more Tulsans," said Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum. "The additional FEC location expands access to free financial counseling, helping more individuals and families gain control over their finances, reduce debt, increase savings and work towards financial stability."

 

"The opening of second Financial Empowerment Center at Tulsa Responds is a great milestone for our city. It furthers our commitment to increase financial empowerment, stability and resilience for all Tulsans,” said Krystal Reyes, Chief of Resilience Officer for the City of Tulsa.  

 

“We are ecstatic and honored to have the FEC join our office to better serve the community of Tulsa by building pathways to economic independence, ensuring that the families who come into our offices have more opportunities to thrive,” says Marcela Swenson, Tulsa Responds’ Executive Director. 

 

The FEC is staffed with financial counselors who can help any Tulsan, regardless of income, with issues such as identifying and connecting to public benefits; budgeting in the face of income volatility; working with creditors like student lenders and credit card companies to reduce interest rates; reducing debt; establishing and improving credit; connecting to safe and affordable banking services; and building savings. Financial counselors can also make referrals to other services and organizations. Counselors are trained and certified through the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund curriculum. Tulsa FEC Counselors are also certified by the National Association for Certified Credit Counselors (NACC). ​ 

 

In December 2020, the City of Tulsa and Goodwill Industries of Tulsa partnered to launch the evidence-based national model and have grown the program to serve over 1,100 Tulsans who have collectively increased their savings by more than $300,000 and reduced their debt by more than $1,100,000.  

 

Due to the successful outcomes and increased demand of the program’s services, the City of Tulsa issued an RFP in 2023 and contracted a second FEC provider partner, doubling the program’s capacity. With both Goodwill and Tulsa Responds teams, the Tulsa FECs have seven counselors available to work with Tulsans on their financial goals. 

 

The Financial Empowerment Center is overseen by the City of Tulsa’s Office of Financial Empowerment & Community Wealth. The Office of Financial Empowerment & Community Wealth works to ensure all Tulsans have access to the programs and resources needed to achieve financial stability and resiliency through integrated financial empowerment programs and policies, including banking access, financial counseling and education, savings and asset building, and consumer financial protection. 

 

For more information about the Office of Financial Empowerment and the Financial Empowerment Centers in Tulsa, please visit www.cityoftulsa.org/ofe.  

 

For questions or potential partnerships, please contact Joshua Ganye, Financial Empowerment Program Assistant, of the Office of Financial Empowerment & Community Wealth, at [email protected].